Man arrested over social media post following Euros final

A MAN has been arrested after social media posts were directed towards England players after the Euro 2020 final.

The suspect, aged 37, handed himself in at Cheadle Health police station on the morning of Wednesday, July 14.

He was arrested on suspicion of an offence under Section 1 of the Malicious Communications Act.

The man, from Ashton-upon-Mersey, remains in custody for questioning, police said.

A post was made on Sunday night, following England’s defeat to Italy in the Euro 2020 final.

Detective Inspector Matt Gregory of GMP’s Trafford division, said: “The actions of a small number of people overshadowed what was a hugely unifying event for our country on Sunday evening.

“We are firm in our commitment, any racist abuse whether online or off is not acceptable.

“We now have one man in custody and our investigation continues.

“If you think you have information on this post, we’d like to hear from you on 0161 856 4973, quoting incident number 109 of 12/7/2021.

“You can also anonymously contact the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.”

England stars Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka were all targeted with racist abuse after Sunday’s match.

The trio were subjected to the vile abuse after missing their penalties in the shootout.

Their social media pages were flooded with racist comments, leading the FA to release a statement condemning the ‘disgusting behaviour’.

A mural of Marcus Rashford in Withington, Manchester, was also vandalised after the game - but hundreds of people have since visited the artwork and placed messages of support on it for the footballer.