Tyrone Mings hits out at Home Secretary Priti Patel over online abuse

England were defeated by Italy in

on Sunday. The Three Lions were edged out by the Azzurri in a tense penalty shootout that saw them miss the chance to win their first-ever European Championship title.

Marcus Rashford

,

Jadon Sancho

, and

Bukayo Saka

were racially abused on social media after they missed their penalties against Italy.

UK Home Secretary

Priti Patel

condemned the abuse by publishing a post on his Twitter account on Monday. However, his reaction was criticized by

, who accused Patel of “stoking the fire” before the tournament.

“You don’t get to stoke the fire at the beginning of the tournament by labelling our anti-racism message as ‘Gesture Politics’ & then pretend to be disgusted when the very thing we’re campaigning against, happens.”

Mings wrote on his Twitter

.

In June, Patel refused to criticize England fans who had booed players taking the knee at the Riverside Stadium. The Home Secretary said the fans had a right to react to the players’ "Gesture Politics".

Mings added:

“I am disgusted that England players who have given so much for our country this summer have been subject to vile racist abuse on social media.

“It has no place in our country and I back the police to hold those responsible accountable.”

The racial abuse was widely condemned by football fans and officials, but many observers believe England football still has a long road ahead of them in terms of dealing with racist behaviors.

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