Arsenal’s friendly opponents Hibs show solidarity with Arsenal star Bukayo Saka by unveiling a shirt with his name on after the youngster was subject to racist abuse following his penalty miss in the Euro 2020 final
- Bukayo Saka was subject to sickening racist abuse after the Euro 2020 final
- It came after the youngster missed from the spot in their penalty shoot-out loss
- Arsenal are preparing for their season and plays Hibs in a pre-season friendly
- Hibs offered their support to Saka with a home shirt with his name on the back
- Arsenal shared a picture of the shirt on Twitter with the caption ‘solidarity’
Scottish Premiership side Hibs have shown solidarity with Arsenal’s Bukayo Saka, after the youngster was targeted with racist abuse.
The 19-year-old missed the fifth and decisive penalty as England suffered a penalty shoot-out defeat to Italy in the final of Euro 2020.
In the aftermath to the game, Saka along with Jadon Sancho and Marcus Rashford, was subject to racist abuse on their social media accounts.
Bukayo Saka was subject to racist abuse in the aftermath of England’s Euro 2020 final loss
Hibs showed their solidarity with Bukayo Saka producing a shirt with his name on the back
Arsenal play Hibs in their first pre-season friendly on Tuesday, and the Scottish side showed their support for the youngster.
An image which was shared on Arsenal’s Twitter account, shows Hibs have unveiled a home shirt with Saka’s name and number on the back of it.
The Gunners posted the image on their account with a caption simply stating ‘solidarity’.
Hibs meanwhile posted a message on their account which said: ‘We stand with you @BukayoSaka87.’
It was a nice touch from Hibs for the Gunners youngster, following his heartbreaking penalty miss and the sickening abuse he received in the aftermath.
Saka of course is not in action for Arsenal in their pre-season friendly, as he takes some time off to recover for the upcoming Premier League season.
The teenager was one of the stars for England during the Euros, making four appearances and putting in some fantastic displays.
Saka was visibly distraught on the Wembley pitch following his miss, with his team-mates going up to console him and later on after the trophy presentation, his family too.
In a statement, Instagram said: ‘No one should have to experience racist abuse anywhere, and we don’t want it on Instagram.
‘We quickly removed comments and accounts directing abuse at England’s footballers last night and we’ll continue to take action against those that break our rules.
‘In addition to our work to remove this content, we encourage all players to turn on Hidden Words, a tool which means no one has to see abuse in their comments or DMs.
Gareth Southgate hugs Saka after the Arsenal player’s miss during the penalty shoot-out
Jadon Sancho and Marcus Rashford also received racist abuse after England’s defeat
‘No one thing will fix this challenge overnight, but we’re committed to keeping our community safe from abuse.’
The FA said it was ‘appalled’ by the abuse and would do everything possible to support players affected by racism.
‘We could not be clearer that anyone behind such disgusting behaviour is not welcome in following the team,’ said the FA in a statement.
‘We will do all we can to support the players affected while urging the toughest punishments possible for anyone responsible.
‘We will continue to do everything we can to stamp discrimination out of the game, but we implore government to act quickly and bring in the appropriate legislation so this abuse has real life consequences.
‘Social media companies need to step up and take accountability and action to ban abusers from their platforms, gather evidence that can lead to prosecution and support making their platforms free from this type of abhorrent abuse.’
