‘As soon as they missed a penalty, they were not English – just black’ – Jude Bellingham slams England fans after Bukayo Saka, Sancho and Rashford were racially abused

England footballer Jude Bellingham has blamed fans in his country for the racial harassment of his teammates Bukayo Saka, Marcus Rashford, and Jadon Sancho following last year’s Euro 2020 final.

The Three Lions were brutally tortured online after the Wembley final, in which they were all defeated by Gareth Southgate’s men’s pennants kick.

Speaking to The Mirror in a recent interview, the Borussia Dortmund midfielder said: ‘You are looking at how you will reach the finals and you feel like the world is united. When they missed the peanut, they were not English, they were just black. Anyone can miss a peanut. Anyone can make a mistake in their line of work. But such criticism should never happen. They are human.

They are all uppercase letters. Seeing them get down like that was disgusting. What if I missed a peanut? You are English seven games and suddenly, you are nothing.

‘I know that these are stupid people, and not the whole nation is against them. I’m sure they probably have a great return on support. But the only support they need is to get away with it, not just the consequences. ‘

Bellingham also believes that there is a conflict between the way football governing bodies deal with racism compared to others.

In December last year, he was fined £ 34,000 by the German FA for questioning the appointment of referee Felix Zwayer during Borussia Dortmund’s 3-2 loss to Bayern Munich.

The Dortmund midfielder has spoken out about Zwayer’s suspension six months ago due to embarrassment over match-fixing and was ordered to pay for the result. But he demanded that there be a difference when it came to racial harassment.

‘There is not a single job in the world where you should be criticized for being racist,’ he added. ‘I’ll never forget the first time I received a text message. My team was quick to send someone to text me and confirm that I was right and I really appreciate that. I had sent a message to my colleagues and family members.

‘I did not find anything in DFB or FA. And I always compare it to when I talked to the referee in December. They were too quick to contact me to give me my fine, give me my punishment, and make a big drama for the media.

‘I learned from that. I know what I can and cannot say. I know that sometimes I have to control my emotions. But, you know, when you give me more power than I was going through, well – I felt: “Maybe we’re alone.