Varadkar says behaviour of some England fans was 'unacceptable'

Tánaiste Leo Varadkar has described the behaviour of some England fans as 'unacceptable' and said social media giants have a responsibility to take down racist posts about football players.

Tánaiste Leo Varadkar has described the behaviour of some England fans as "unacceptable" and said social media giants have a responsibility to take down racist posts about football players.

"I think England's team is a tribute to their nation, unfortunately, some of their supporters are not," Mr Varadkar said in reaction to the violent scenes after last nights Euro 2020 final.

A total of 19 officers were injured in London after the game and 49 people had been arrested for a "variety of offences" as fans reacted to the defeat against Italy.

Mr Varadkar also condemned the racist messages sent to English players, particularly Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka, pictured, all of whom missed penalties in last night's shoot-out

Speaking about the conduct of fans inside the stadium, who booed at the Italian national anthem and shouted racist abuse at some of the English team, Mr Varadkar said: "We saw the violence, bad behaviour yesterday and we saw something really unfortunate I think in sport, you know somebody booing somebody else's national anthem and that shouldn't be done.

I was there the day when God Save the Queen was sung for the first time in Croke Park and the response of the Irish crowd was exactly the way fans should behave and I think it's very disappointing that a number of English fans behaved in the way they did."

Mr Varadkar also condemned the racist messages sent to English players, particularly Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka, all of whom missed penalties in last night's shoot-out.

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The trio’s social media pages were quickly flooded with racist comments.

Mr Varadkar added: "I would say to anyone who's engaging in any form of abuse online, that that's really unacceptable.

"And certainly, I'd be saying to the tech companies that they have the responsibility not to promote and to take down anything of a racist nature in that regard. I haven't contacted them yet, but it's the kind of message that I would happily make public here."

However, he said he still was "100% behind" England's 2030 World Cup joint bid with Ireland.