Abraham and Alexander-Arnold: England players ready to make stand against racism

Tammy Abraham and Trent Alexander-Arnold say Englands players are prepared to defy UEFAs racism protocols and walk off the pitch if someone is targeted.Gareth Southgates side face away Euro 2020 qualifiers against the Czech Republic on Friday and Bulgaria on Monday, with the second game played at a partially closed Vasil Levski National Stadium in Sofia as a sanction for racism set to come under particular scrutiny.Englands players were racially abused during their March qualifier against Montenegro in Podgorica, where they stayed on the pitch and ran out 5-1 winners.Southgate has said that, going forward, England will follow UEFAs three-step protocol for dealing with racial abuse, which begins with making the referee aware of the situation and can end with the match being abandoned.Raheem Sterling responded to racist taunts with his celebration in Montenegro (Nick Potts/PA)But Abraham has suggested that, if Englands players believe someone is not comfortable, captain Harry Kane will lead them off the field before the three steps are carried out.Weve had several meetings about it since weve arrived (on Monday), the Chelsea forward said.Weve touched base on how to deal with the situation. Harry Kane even said that if it happens and were not happy with it, we speak to the player and if hes not happy, we all come off the pitch together.Its a team thing. Dont isolate one person, were a whole team. If it happens to one of us, it happens to all of us.Abraham was subjected to abuse after missing a penalty in the Super Cup (Nick Potts/PA)We did speak about that. Harry Kane did ask the question about instead of going through the three steps, if we decide that we want to stop the game and we want to stop the game no matter what the score is if were not happy with it, as a team well decide whether or not to stay on the pitch.Abraham, who suffered online racist abuse earlier this season after missing a penalty in the Super Cup shoot-out defeat to Liverpool, believes offering abusers more than one chance is also the incorrect approach.For me personally, I think its just one strike because it gives people excuses, he added. One time, twice, three times it gives silly people excuses.Captain Harry Kane (right) has spoken with Englands players about how to handle potential racist chants (Adam Davy/PA)Liverpool full-back Alexander-Arnold reckons the protocols will be followed but that, in any extreme situation, a different course of action may be appropriate.We had the meeting with the team and the staff, he said.We talked, everyone was happy and content with the way it went. We all understand what would happen if that situation occurred.UEFA have their way of doing it, the way we need to follow. Thats what were going to do. As a team, were all agreed we need to follow the protocol in place. Obviously as a team, as UEFA will make their decisions, well also make our decisions and well have a discussion about that if that time ever comes. Hopefully it doesnt.We need to be professional athletes. We have an obligation to follow the protocols, thats what we need to do. If it does get to the extreme, maybe different action might be taken.Hopefully that doesnt happen. It shouldnt happen in modern football. Were going there hoping nothing will happen and Im sure nothing will.While walking off the pitch may be seen by many as taking a strong stand against racial abuse, Alexander-Arnolds Liverpool team-mate Joe Gomez feels cases may have to be judged on individual merit.Trent Alexander-Arnold was on media duty ahead of Englands next set of Euro qualifiers (Simon Cooper/PA)I think there is a clear standpoint in what the opinion is on the whole matter, the defender told talkSPORT.It is outrageous really that it is still going on in this day and age but I think it is a balancing act in your response, whether you feed into it or not and give them the satisfaction.For instance, if you come off the pitch, those sort of people might think they have won because if they are that naive to do it in the first place, they might be that slow in their thinking that it is a win for them.We all had a discussion and there is clear protocol in place and what we would should do.If it does happen, we all have to be united as a team and a country as a whole it isnt just the players on the pitch.(function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){i['GoogleAnalyticsObject']=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){
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