11 people arrested for racist online abuse against English football players

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11 people have been arrested in connection with racist online abuse of English football players after their loss in the European Championship final last month, AP reports.

Driving the news: The British Football Police Unit requested data from social media companies to investigate online abuse and passed the information on to the police, who made the arrests, according to AP.

“There are people who think they can hide behind a social media profile and get away with posting such heinous comments,” said Cheshire Police Chief Mark Roberts, who heads the Cheshire Police Department. football for the National Council of Police Chiefs. “They have to think again.” Of the 207 criminal social media posts identified, 123 accounts belong to individuals outside the UK. The police unit is awaiting information on the remaining 50 account holders, per AP.

Background: A barrage of hateful and racist comments surfaced online following England’s loss to Italy in the European Championship final.

The offensive comments were made against three black players Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka on social media sites. All three missed their shots on goal in the shootout of the match, which Italy won.

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