Southgate praises character of England’s Black players

LONDON (AP) — England coach Gareth Southgate has praised the character of Raheem Sterling, Jude Bellingham and all of his squad’s Black players following the latest incident of racist abuse to affect the national team. FIFA has opened disciplinary proceedings after Sterling and Bellingham were targeted with monkey chants by Hungary fans during England’s 4-0 victory in a World Cup qualifier in Budapest on Thursday. Southgate says the Black players are incredibly mature in the way they deal with the abuse. He adds they feel supported by their teammates, which is very important to them. He also says their teammates realize how challenging it must be for the Black players, and are disappointed the racial abuse keeps happening.