A petition to ban racist abusers from football matches has passed one million signatures.
In response to the racial abuse hurled at England footballers Marcus Rashford, Bukayo Saka and Jadon Sancho, via their social media platforms, following their Euro 2020 final defeat against Italy, Shaista Aziz, Amna Abdullatif and Huda Jawad created a petition on Monday.
A petition entitled ‘Ban racists for life from all football matches in England' calls for the Football Association (FA) and government to work together to impose a lifetime ban on any and all people who have carried out racist abuse, online or offline, from all football matches in England.
The campaigners, call themselves “The Three Hijabis” due to their heritage and dress, have gained more than 1,000,000 signatures on their petition. Not only are all three women activists, they're also keen football fans.
Each member of the trio admitted they experienced discrimination from others while watching football, due to their race and gender. Ms Aziz, a journalist and Labour councillor, discussed a time when she felt so unsafe during a Wembley match, that she left the English half for the opposition seats.
Following England's defeat in a penalty shootout, many have praised Gareth Southgate's team, while members of the public have also contributed through messages on social media. Recently Marcus Rashford's mural in Manchester was covered in racist language, and then inundated with words of encouragement and flowers.
Campaigner Abdullatif hopes things will change as thousands of people continue to respond to the petition. The mass following the petition has created an inspiring vision of what young people can achieve. According to Abdullatif, the success of this campaign "is all on us, we all have a role to play, we can all make a difference… if you don’t make that change, nothing will change for the greater good.”
If you would like to sign the petition click link: https://tinyurl.com/282scr28
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