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Racism is as old as the history of human societies. Modern states have responded appropriately: legislatively and normatively and so to have sporting codes and institutions. However, we cannot wish it away. It will remain amongst us in one form or the other.

Racism in sports has risen by 67% in 2018, in professional sport – soccer, basketball, boxing, cricket, golf, motorsport and tennis. Remember how Jesse Owens and other athletes, faced similar experiences during the 1936 Olympics in Germany, held under Adolf Hitler’s “Aryan-race only” formula? Interestingly, contrary to popular belief that Hitler refused shaking hands, Jesse said it was actually the US President Franklin D. Roosevelt who refused to meet him. Imagine that?

Bukayo Saka, Marcus Rashford and Jadon Sancho

Recall Zinedine Zidane’s headbutting act after being racially slurred by Macro Materazzi during the France and Italy match in the world cup. An Algerian sculptor has even built a sculpture to immortalise the headbutting. Tiger Woods was also subjected to a racist jibe from a veteran golfer after his 1998 major win, and so did Magic Johnson in basketball.

Racism again raised its ugly head in the aftermath of the Euro 2021 final between England and Italy in which England lost 3-2 in the nerve-wrecking penalty shootout after extra-time ended with a 1-1 score line. The pain of losing the final was in itself heartbreaking for England, but the barrage of racist slandering and attacks on the three key English players, Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka was even more excruciating, drawing widespread condemnation. The trio had narrowly missed the penalty kick, costing England the cup.

The upset English fans in a fit of rage not only resorted to vandalism and rioting outside the Wembley Stadium, but went on to target the three players with racist attacks, leaving them heartbroken, and the nation and sporting world in shock. While the loss was in itself brutal for the team, more so for the three players, being singled out on racial grounds was too much to bear for them, as well as for other English supporters. But, it was a touching sight to see the brave England captain Harry Kane embracing the players to console them, speaking volumes about his leadership.

In the post-match madness, a large group of highly agitated England supporters reportedly defaced the murals of Rashford in his suburb of Withington, in south Manchester.

Appalled by the racist attacks, hundreds gathered to throw their support behind the trio, repainting and restoring the defaced mural of Rashford. The gathered supporters also took the knee at the Stand Up to Racism demonstration.

#SayNoToRacism and #BlackLivesMatter has been trending on the social media ever since, in solidarity with the players, which is a powerful symbol of racism uniting people more than dividing them. BBC reported that the 61-years old Karen Reismann, protested despite being fined £10,000 for breaching Covid rules during a National Health Service pay protest. Another NHS worker Felicite Sora, who recently moved to UK from France shared that the French player Kylian Mbappe was also subjected to racist attacks after he missed the penalty for France in the competition. She said that she joined the solidarity protest with her six-year old son to instil in him the need for standing up to such incidents of racism. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has condemned the racist attacks unequivocally and thrown his weight behind the team, especially the trio. The Greater Manchester Police is now reportedly investigating the incident of the defacing of Rashford’s mural. Ed Edward, the co-founder of Withington Walls said that the perpetrators need more education than any punishment. According to the BBC, the crowdfunding page has raised over £34,000 which will go toward painting more such murals, said Edward.

The message in all this here is that racism will raise its ugly head periodically involving players, officials, referees and spectators, therefore, what matters is how we respond. It is heartening to see in the latest instance how people have stood up against racism. This is how it must be addressed: unequivocally and strongly. Because racism won’t vanish, so what matters is how we respond as a society.