A Euro 2020 soccer tournament qualification game between England and Bulgaria was nearly cancelled Monday after a segment of Bulgarian fans continually chanted racist abuse towards black England players.
The match held at Vasil Levski National Stadium in Sofia, Bulgaria was temporarily halted on two separate occasions when a number of Bulgarian fans could be heard makingA significant amount of abuse appears to have been focused on three black England players, including star midfielder Raheem Sterling. Sterling was apparently subjected to a"monkey" chant by a section of the crowd.
In the 28th minute of the match, the referee halted the game due to the ongoing racist abuse. About five minutes later the game resumed, but had to be paused again for a short time beginning in the 44th minute. At that point, it was not clear whether the match would continue. An announcement was made on the stadium's loudspeaker warning the crowd that the game could be cancelled if abuse continued, which was met with loud booing.
Bulgaria team captain Ivelin Popov could be seen pleading with Bulgarian fans to stop the behavior as game's first half came to a close. While the"monkey" chants seem to have stopped by the second half, fans could be heard booing England players throughout the rest of the game, seemingly focused on the team's black players.
Regardless of the hostile atmosphere, England ended up winning the game 6-0. Sterling scored two of the goals. England player Raheem Sterling was reportedly the target of racist chants in the UEFA Euro 2020 qualification game against Bulgaria on October 14 2019.The stadium was operating at a reduced capacity, with 5,000 seats left intentionally empty, in response to previous racist behavior by Bulgaria fans. In June, fans of the team were accused of racist behavior during two games against Czech Republic and Kosovo.
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