Good Morning Britain presenter Richard Madeley has called for racist social media trolls sending abuse to England players should be “locked away”.
The presenter, 65, appeared on the ITV breakfast programme alongside Susanna Reid on a Monday morning following the end of the UEFA Euros 2020 which saw England lose the final to Italy following a nail-biting penalty shoot-out.
As the Monday instalment opened, Richard noted the mood after England’s loss: “D’oh!”
Richard and Susanna then discussed the disgusting racist abuse on social media against Black footballers Marcus Rashford, Bukayo Saka, and Jadon Sancho.
Richard stated: “I do think personally, we’ve had enough of this racism. It’s not enough to too call this disgusting."
He continued: “We have to track these people down and it’s possible through IP addresses.
“We need to spend some money and some time and some officers to get these guys and to, bring them to court and to lock them away because it is not representative of this country.
“It is a disgusting distortion of what this country now is today. Didn’t use to be, but now we are a properly diverse, wonderful country to live in.
“These people that are sending these messages are breaking the law, they’re breaking a profound moral code and they need to be dragged by the scruff of the neck into the dock."
Richard added that he did not think “it’s enough to criticise them and call them names” and called for bringing them to “justice”.
The presenter also called football “a cruel game, that’s the underlying reality”.
“If only we could have tucked a second one away in the second half,” said Richard. “I think we’ve got to be really careful of falling into this trap that we’re cursed on penalties.”
The presenter noted that Italy also missed in the penalty shoot-out.
At this moment, Susanna laughed: “It’s taken us 13 minutes to say congratulations to Italy, congratulations Italy!”
Meanwhile, Susanna also reminded viewers that this sort of abuse is why the players were taking the knee before the games.
She earlier said at the start of the programme: “I would virtually like to give those penalty takers a hug.”
Susanna also when on to note the “huge responsibility” for such young men to take on during the penalties.
She also singled out player Marcus Rashford for his efforts in campaigning to feed hungry children throughout the Covid-19 pandemic.
The England team posted on Twitter following the abuse online: “We’re disgusted that some of our squad – who have given everything for the shirt this summer – have been subjected to discriminatory abuse online after tonight’s game.
“We stand with our players [red heart emoji]”.
Meanwhile, Metropolitan Police have tweeted: "We are aware of a number of offensive and racist social media comments being directed towards footballers following the #Euro2020 final.
"This abuse is totally unacceptable, it will not be tolerated and it will be investigated."
*Good Morning Britain airs on weekdays from 6am to 9am on ITV, with previous episodes available to watch on catch-up on ITV Hub.
