Southgate asks defender to share racism experience with squad

Gareth Southgate urged Danny Rose to relate his experiences of racism with the rest of the England squad as fears grow that black players could be targeted by Russian fans at the World Cup.

Rose was racially abused playing for England Under-21s in Serbia in 2012 and is well aware of the problems in Russia, most recently with the abuse aimed at France’s players during an international friendly in St Petersburg in March which led to nothing more than a fine.

The Tottenham Hotspur defender revealed yesterday he had told his family not to travel to the tournament for fear they might face abuse and he also raised the prospect of England players walking off the pitch at the World Cup if there are any racial taunts. Southgate later warned that might not be the best response, although he was keen that Rose’s team-mates should be left in no doubt about the seriousness of the problem.

“I actually asked him, for the benefit of other players, for his experiences of what had gone on and what was clear was he felt let down by the authorities and he was not the only one who had had experience of that, which was sad to hear,” said the England manager.

“He talked about the fines and things that have happened that seem they are not really having any impact. None of us know what is going to happen in Russia, but if he feels that there is a possibility of something, he didn’t want his family to experience it as it might distract him from his football.”

Rose made absolutely clear yesterday he did not want his family to be targeted by racists.

“I’ve had to tell the family I don’t want them coming out to Russia because I’m worried about their safety,” he said. “That’s going to affect my preparation for games if I’m worrying about them and that’s such a sad state of affairs.

“My dad has followed me all over my career, and I had to tell him last week I didn’t want him to come to Russia, and I could tell that he was really upset.”

Asked if England’s players had talked about walking off the pitch if there was racial abuse, Rose said: “We’ve discussed it. Until it actually happens and under what circumstances, it’s hard to say what you’d actually do.”

But Southgate warned that while such a protest might be perfectly understandable, it could jeopardise England’s participation at the finals.

“People in an idealistic world would say you should do that, and it seems the realities are that you would be thrown out [of the competition],” Southgate said.

“I don’t think the players want that as they’ve worked all their lives to get to a World Cup. The ideal is we can raise the issue and confront the issue but we want to play in the tournament.”