SOUTHGATE CAUTION IN RACISM ROW
CZECH REP v ENGLAND
GARETH SOUTHGATE has admitted England must get their own house in order after becoming embroiled in a racism row with Bulgaria.
Southgate’s Euro 2020 qualifier with Czech Republic tonight is in danger of being overshadowed after Bulgaria FA president Borislav Mikhailov launched a remarkable attack on England.
Mikhailov has written to UEFA and accused the FA of peddling “racist stereotypes” about Bulgaria and also claimed it was “offensive” for Tammy Abraham to suggest England players should walk off if they are abused when the teams meet in Sofia on Monday.
England manager Southgate even pointed towards last month’s National League game at Hartlepool when players were racially abused amid ugly scenes.
Southgate said: “I can totally understand why the Bulgarian president feels this way. If I was him, and I was only reading those quotes and not knowing the context of why the things were said, then I would feel probably as he does.
“We are not trying to create a situation at all, far from it. We’re all hoping that over the next 72 hours we’re just talking about two matches.
“I think both countries would have a strong desire for that and I have BY JOHN CROSS IN PRAGUE to say again we don’t look at other countries in a way that we don’t shine a mirror on our own.
“What happened in Hartlepool a couple of weeks ago was probably worse than things I’ve seen or heard about in many other countries. So we have to be careful in how we cover everything.”
England star Raheem Sterling admitted the players did not know about UEFA’s three-step protocol when Danny Rose was abused in Montenegro in March but insists now they have to give that process a chance before thinking about walking off in protest.
Sterling said: “We had a meeting as a group and Gareth sat us down and explained UEFA’s protocol and now, as players, we’ve got to give UEFA a chance to deal with it.
“But, yes, I have got full faith in UEFA.”
England can clinch their Euro 2020 qualification with a victory in Prague but Czech Republic boss Jaroslav Silhavy has warned his players are ready to punish their rivals’ “mistakes”.
Silhavy said: “England made mistakes in the 5-3 win over Kosovo last month. What we saw in that game was England are not perfect and we hope to take advantage.”