England’s European Qualifying match against Bulgaria in Sofia was twice halted in the first half following incidents of racist abuse from the home supporters.
Aston Villa’s Tyrone Mings was captured on camera complaining about abuse to the linesman, with the complaints then relayed to and through to the referee.
The match was twice halted by the referee in order for stadium announcements pleading for the abuse to stop to occur, with UEFA’s three-step protocol coming into action.
UEFA’s guidelines state that the first step is for the referee to request an announcement to be made in the stadium asking for the abuse to stop, warning that the match will be abandoned if it continues.
This was witnessed in the first half of England’s match in Sofia, as the UEFA delegate said: "Because of racist behaviour which is interfering with the game, the referee has indicated he may have to suspend the match. Please be in no doubt that the game may be suspended and abandoned if racist behaviour continues."
Unfortunately, that did not help to ease the situation and the second step of UEFA’s protocol was activated - with another announcement in the stadium being made while the action was temporarily halted.
The third and final step, should the situation not be resolved, is for the match to be abandoned, something which did not happen on Monday night.
