'As soon as they missed a penalty, they were not English - just black'
Jude Bellingham has opened up on the racial abuse directed at his teammates in the aftermath of the 2020 European Championships and questioned if the authorities 'care' about the racist abuse directed at black footballers.
Bukayo Saka, Jadon Sancho and Marcus Rashford were all subjected to horrifying racial abuse after missing their penalties in the final defeat to Italy last summer, leaving Bellingham and the rest of the nation shocked.
The 18-year-old, who was part of the squad at the Euros, said that he feels like everyone is united until they choose not to be.
"You look at the run into that final and you felt as though the country had united," Bellingham told
The Mirror.
"Then as soon as they missed a penalty, they were not English, just black. Anyone can miss a penalty. Anyone can make a mistake in their line of work. But to be criticised like that should never happen. They are human.
"They are all top, top characters. To see them brought down like that was disgusting. As a team-mate it's hard to take because that could have been me. What if I'd missed a penalty? You're English for seven games and then all of a sudden, you're nothing.
"I know these are select idiots, of course, and it's not the whole nation turning against them. I'm sure that they probably had a bigger comeback of support. But the only support they should need is for missing the penalty, not for the racism that they've received after it."
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Bellingham also questioned whether the hierarchy in football are willing to tackle the issue of racism in football, citing the example of the time he was fined by the German Football Association for questioning the referee following a defeat against Bayern Munich.
"There's not a single job in the world where you deserve to be criticised with racism," the 18-year-old said.
"I'll never forget the first time I properly got a batch of messages. My club were quick to send someone to message me and make sure I was alright and I really appreciate that. I had teammates message me and family members.
"I didn't receive anything from the DFB or FA. And I always kind of compare it to when I said the thing about the referee in December. They were very quick to get into contact to give me my fine, give me my punishment and kind of make it a big drama in the media.
"I’ve learned from that. I know what I can and can’t say. I know that sometimes I have to control my emotions better. But, you know, when you give that more energy than the situation I was going through, well - I felt: 'Maybe we are alone. Maybe they’re not interested, maybe they don’t care. And maybe it is down to me and down to us to work independently to get our message out.'"
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