FOOTBALL ASSOCIATION (FA) has denied media reports claiming that England team has snubbed an invitation from Downing Street after prime minister Boris Johnson “threw his weight” behind home secretary Priti Patel over racial abuse row with team’s defender Tyrone Mings.
It was being reported that the team has shelved plans to pay a visit to Downing Street after Johnson’s blunt reply to the team’s defender in which he offered his support to the England players affected by the abuse but seemingly also threw his weight behind Patel.
However, both the FA and Downing Street have now said no such plans have yet been made.
A Downing Street’s spokesman said that Johnson would have been “delighted and honoured to host a reception for the England squad to mark their outstanding performance in the European championship”.
“However No10 was informed prior to Sunday’s game that the FA’s preference was not for an immediate reception in the event England were to lose,” said the spokesman.
The declaration comes as it was widely circulated on social media that England team has given a cold shoulder after Johnson’s reply to Mings.
"I want to reiterate my total support of our fantastic England team, and I support them in the way that they show solidarity with their friends when they face racism," said Johnson. "But when he (Starmer) talks about the Home Secretary, let me just remind him that my right honourable friend has faced racism and prejudice all her career, of the kind he can never imagine.”
After England lost the final to Italy, the three black players who missed England’s penalties, Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka, were barraged with horrific racist abuse with their social media accounts being flooded with racial slurs.
Both Boris Johnson, Patel and many other ministers strongly condemned the racial abuse, along with Prince William and thousands of fans.
However, Mings hit back on Patel accusing her of “pretending to be disgusted” and “stoking racism” when she called the team’s act of taking the knee before every match as “gesture politics”.
She also refused to criticise fans for booing players who chose to take the knee, telling GB News: "That’s a choice for (fans) quite frankly. I’ve not gone to a football match to even contemplate that."
