FIFA open an investigation into sickening racial abuse of England vs Hungary

FIFA have launched an investigation into the sickening racist abuse directed at England players during their 4-0 win over Hungary in World Cup qualifying last night.

Raheem Sterling and Jude Bellingham were targeted by monkey chants in Budapest, while Sterling was pelted by a number of plastic cups thrown from a section of the home crowd after scoring the first goal.

After the game, Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Three Lions manager Gareth Southgate and Labour leader Keir Starmer were unified in their condemnation of the incidents, labelling them as 'unacceptable'.

It has now been confirmed that FIFA, football's governing body, will probe the behaviour - and they have reiterated their 'zero tolerance' stance.

A statement said: 'First and foremost, FIFA strongly rejects any form of racism and violence and has a very clear zero tolerance stance for such behaviour in football.

'FIFA will take adequate actions as soon as it receives match reports concerning yesterday’s Hungary-England game.

'With regards to the previous UEFA sanction against Hungary, please note that as specified by UEFA at the time, this sanction is to be served in UEFA competitions.'

Players were largely shielded from the abuse during the match, but chanting was audible from the stands and picked up on by several pitchside reporters. England captain Harry Kane and his team-mates also hit out at the abuse.

The game was placed on a 'red list' by FIFA because of the high risk of racist and homophobic abuse breaking out. It follows the vile conduct from some Hungary supporters at Euro 2020, which saw them handed a three-match stadium ban.

They were ordered to play behind closed doors by UEFA after incidents against France and Portugal, although the third game has been suspended for a probationary period of two years. A fine of £85,000 was also meted out.

Hungary, however, were able to play England in front of 67,000 spectators because World Cup qualifying is a FIFA competition.

Reacting to the abuse, Mr Johnson said: 'It is completely unacceptable that England players were racially abused in Hungary last night.

'I urge FIFA to take strong action against those responsible to ensure that this kind of disgraceful behaviour is eradicated from the game for good.'

Southgate, meanwhile, added: 'It's not acceptable. We have taken our stance, took the knee, right thing, I don't think the group of players that we've had could be doing anything more for that cause.'

England now hold a five-point lead at the top of their qualification group for Qatar 2022 after the victory, and the players were forced to confront a hostile atmosphere which also saw missiles and flares thrown their way.

'Another dominant England performance and a great result,' Mr Starmer said. 'But once again, our England team are subjected to disgusting racist abuse. Completely unacceptable behaviour.

'Strong action must be taken against Hungary to protect players and show racism has no place in football.'

FIFA are yet to receive reports from match officials and delegates in attendance at the Ferenc Puskas Stadium, it is understood, but there is a growing demand for strong action to be taken in the wake of the incidents.

Speaking to ITV at full-time, Kane admitted he didn't 'hear' the abuse, but went on to add: 'I'll talk to the boys and see if they heard it. We'll have to report it to UEFA as the rules permit and if it was the case then hopefully UEFA can come down strong.'

In a statement, the Football Association said: 'It is extremely disappointing to hear reports of discriminatory actions towards some of our England players.

'We will be asking FIFA to investigate the matter. We continue to support the players and staff in our collective determination to highlight and tackle discrimination in all its forms.'

Officials were in attendance in Budapest to film any incidents of racist abuse, and to observe if supporters booed England taking the knee before kick-off. Indeed, the gesture was treated to a widespread jeering.

John Stones has insisted the squad will continue to fight for equality.

'It is so sad to think that this happens at our games and I hope UEFA and whoever needs to take care of it does and I'm sure they will,' he said.

'We stand together as a team and we will continue fighting for what we believe in as a team and what we believe is right.

'I think we definitely have the mindset of "let the football do the talking" and tonight we did that.

'We celebrated our goals as if it is the last one we will score and that is an incredible thing to have as a team and as players.

'We live the game and are so passionate for the shirt and how we conduct ourselves on the pitch.'

Kick It Out chief executive Tony Burnett has urged FIFA to investigate. 'Kick It Out was appalled to see the actions of some Hungary fans,' he said.

'We stand proudly in support of the England players and staff, who once again acted with strength, grace and integrity in the face of racism that has no place in our game or our society.

'This is not the first incident like this in Hungary, so we urge FIFA to investigate this matter urgently.

'Those responsible need to be held to account and steps need to be taken to ensure scenes like (this) are not repeated.'

Declan Rice said: 'We spoke about what could potentially happen, we didn't hear nothing. It's disgraceful, something needs to happen. They can't keep doing stadium bans if this keeps happening when we play away in these sorts of places.'

The unsavoury chants and actions are not the first time that England players have been racially abused at an international fixture. The team threatened to walk off the pitch against Montenegro in 2019 due to abuse aimed at Sterling and Danny Rose.

Following the Euro 2020 final defeat by Italy, trio Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka were all sent messages of a racial nature on social media, despite the country rallying around them after their missed penalties.