Neo-nazi yobs want notoriety... they were trying to get match abandoned

England abuse was a far-right plot

THE vile racist abuse England stars suffered against Bulgaria was part of an organised plot by local neo-nazis, it was claimed last night.

A Bulgaria player told captain Harry Kane the ultras deliberately wanted the match abandoned.

And it is claimed stewards inside the stadium ditched their bibs and joined in hate-filled abuse. But astonishingly, Uefa charged England with disruption of a national anthem, and having “insufficient number of travelling stewards”. The Bulgaria player went into the away dressing room after the 6-0 drubbing to apologise for the abuse.

Charges against Bulgaria include racist behaviour and throwing of objects. England’s black players were subjected to a torrent of abuse during the match, which included monkey chants and Nazi salutes. The match was stopped twice and a third time would have meant it being abandoned. But skipper Kane questioned whether that system is the answer. He said: “There is an announcement and two or three steps before players go off. “It is unacceptable to be racist once so I feel there can be stronger punishments.”

UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin stressed football associations cannot solve the issues alone.

The Mirror is campaigning to Boot Out Racism from football. THE neo-nazi thugs who subjected England stars to a torrent of racist abuse have been a vile stain on Bulgarian football for 25 years.

Yet despite their history of violence, they were still allowed into a national stadium to peddle their hate, in front of millions of TV viewers around the world.

And campaigners have accused Bulgarian football chiefs of doing nothing to halt far-right infiltration of the game.

Witnesses even claimed some stewards were spotted removing their bibs before joining the thugs in their sick abuse of England’s black players during Monday night’s 6-0 drubbing of Bulgaria.

Calling themselves the Usual Suspects, the thuggish 50-strong Lauta Army mob arrived at Sofia’s Vasil Levski stadium on Monday night with only one thing in mind – boosting their sick notoriety.

And one Bulgaria player told how they deliberately abused Raheem Sterling, Marcus Rashford and Tyrone Mings with monkey taunts and Nazi salutes in a bid to get the match abandoned.

But the stars continued, after two stoppages, to thump their opponents tin the Euro 2020 qualifier. England fans also revealed they were ambushed by yobs. Bolton supporter Theo Ogden, 18, from London, said: “As we walked from the security of the stadium we realised the Ultras were waiting for us.

“They were dressed in black like the yobs we’d seen doing Nazi salutes. A group came close to us then more appeared and we realised they were trying to head us off and we braced ourself for a kicking. It was terrifying.”

Theo and his friends were only saved when a police car came to their rescue.

The Lauta Army, who follow Bulgarian team Lokomotiv Plovdiv, is no secret organisation. It is so open about its violence and neo-nazi ideals it has its own Facebook page, where brawls with other hooligans are planned.

The mob even claimed it had organised a battle with Three Lions fans in Sofia.

In the hours before the game, the