England must focus on racism at home, not elsewhere

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England manager Gareth Southgate insists the focus should be on tackling racism at home rather than the potential problems that could arise in Budapest.

Hungary will play their next two UEFA-sanctioned home games behind closed doors after being accused of racist and homophobic offenses by the governing body, with a third game suspended, following abuse in the stands during Euro 2020.

The fan ban does not, however, cover Thursday’s clash against England, with the World Cup qualifiers being held under FIFA jurisdiction, and Puskas Arena is expected to host more than 60,000 home fans, as England supporters were unable to make the trip.

Some have questioned the logic of not enforcing a blanket ban, but Southgate believes the crackdown on racist abuse that followed the Euro 2020 final needs more urgent attention, with Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka all targeted online after their hiccups in the shoot – out of defeat against Italy.

Well, we still prepare the team for anything, really, Southgate said of the trip to Hungary.

We did it this week, but we also know that we have our own issues at home so we don’t really focus on other countries.

We focus on ourselves and make sure our own things are right.

Southgates players were also victims of racial abuse during the Euro 2020 qualifiers in Montenegro and Bulgaria.

The Three Lions were considering leaving the pitch in Sofia before finishing the game, but Southgate said it was dangerous to discuss whether they would leave if mistreated on Thursday night, supporting his players to cope with the intensity of the game in Budapest.

I don’t think we should be talking hypothetically, he said.

I think we know the experience we have had before, but we are going to Hungary to prepare for a game in front of an audience that will support their team and we are looking forward to the challenge of the game. Everything else is just speculation.

We of course spoke to the players about a different atmosphere because we were at home all summer apart from the only match in Rome, but that is the test as a better player.

You have to enter these stadiums with opposition supporters and show resilience and courage to be able to play and control the game.

All of our players play in big games most of the weeks they face this kind of challenge. Many of them play in European football. We have experienced players on this squad now, so it’s nothing they haven’t encountered in the past.

As one of the senior international players among Southgates’ ranks, Manchester United skipper Harry Maguire has said it would be unfair to talk about a reaction to possible racism before the game takes place .

As Gareth said, we are talking about different scenarios for each game, not just Hungary away, the defender said.

In every away game that we play we talk about different scenarios that can happen and I think talking about something in the future that might happen is a little unfair.

As players we are now fully focused on playing in front of a big crowd in a great atmosphere against a team that has proven to be more than capable at the Euro.

So we’re expecting a tough test and we’re more focused on the game and performance and trying to get the three points to (help) qualify for Qatar.

Southgate has confirmed that Maguires’ teammate Sancho will undergo a pre-match fitness assessment in Hungary after suffering a slight blow in training.

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