Mark Hateley was not surprised racism made the headlines in the wake of England’s Euro 2020 final defeat by Italy on Sunday night.
After missing penalties in the 3-2 shoot-out loss at Wembley, Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka were subjected to racist abuse on social media.
Former Rangers and England striker Hateley, who was inducted into Show Racism The Red Card’s Hall of Fame in 2017, was speaking in Oswald’s Bar in Glasgow at the book launch of ‘Going for 55: Rangers’ journey back to the top of Scottish football’.
The 59-year-old recalled his own first-hand encounter with racism on tour with England in 1984, where he scored in England’s 2-0 win over Brazil at the Maracana Stadium, as he called for education alongside strong action from social media platforms to deal with modern day abuse.
Hateley said: “We had the National Front travel with the England international team on the same plane.
“They waited for us coming through and they said to John Barnes and Viv Anderson, ‘You shouldn’t be playing for England’.
“It is about education, kids need to be educated, education is everything.
“It is in-built in individuals through parents and grandparents.
“Last night was shocking. It is a horrible situation. You knew straight away.
“You could have written the back pages or the front pages before that happened.
“It is a sad indictment of where we are right now with humanity.
“Social media platforms need to take stronger action. They need to have teams in place that can react instantly to any rubbish that goes up online and then a ban from social media.”
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