Borussia Dortmund midfielder, Jude Bellingham has come out to reflect on the aftermath of his Euro 2020 heartbreak. He recently had his say while speaking to the press, and fans have been reacting.
According to him, it felt like several fans in England turned against the national team’s Black players in the wake of their Euro 2020 final defeat to Italy on penalties last summer, and that was far from encouraging.
Bellingham added that they were singled out as Black only when they did something wrong on the pitch, and this is a form of discrimination that should never happen.
His words, “You look at the run into that final and you felt as though the country had united.”
“Then as soon as they missed a penalty, they were not English, just black.”
“Anyone can miss a penalty. Anyone can make a mistake in their line of work. But to be criticised like that should never happen. They are human.”
“To be fair, Gareth Southgate was brilliant.”
“He has always brought it up as a topic in meetings when we are aware that we going to [a country with a history of racism]. We went to Hungary shortly after the Euros and the same thing happened again but we felt more prepared. We felt more supported because of what Gareth had put in place. As a Black player you feel very grateful for that.”
“There’s not a single job in the world where you deserve to be criticised with racism. I’ll never forget the first time I properly got a batch of messages. My club were quick to send someone to message me and make sure I was alright and I really appreciate that. I had team-mates message me and family members.”
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