Euro 2024: Abusing England players online could land fans in trouble. Here how

In an attempt to clamp down online social media abuse against the English players, the Football Association (FA) has funded a special unit within the British police.

The officers under the newly formed unit will be able to prosecute anyone who abuses the England players.

FA's chief executive, Mark Bullingham informed about the new move which has been well-received within the footballing circles. According to reports, the FA has provided 25,000 pounds ($32,000) to help police.

"In the past what we did was put together all the data, effectively an evidence pack, to give to the police to prosecute. But this time we have gone a stage further where we are actually funding a unit within the British police that will then prosecute," said Bullingham.

"What we don't want to do is create a pack that we then give to the police for them to prosecute but they don't have the resource to actually take that forward. So we are paying for the prosecution to then happen and funding the police to make sure if there are instances of the examples we have seen before, they get prosecuted," he further said.

England's top player viz. Bukayo Saka, Marcus Rashford and Jadon Sancho were abused mercilessly by the trolls at the last Euros after they missed penalties in the final of the tournament against Italy.

The British police will also look to set a precedence, especially after three fans in Spain were sentenced to eight months in prison and banned from stadiums for two years for racially abusing Real Madrid player Vinicius Junior at Mestalla.

Apart from the special unit, more than 1,600 England fans with football banning orders had been forced to surrender their passports to the police from June 4 till the final on July 14.


Security raised


Security has been raised for England's opening match against Serbia at the Veltins Arena, Gelsenkirchen - home to Bundesliga 2 club Schalke, on Sunday (Jun 15). As many as 40,000 English fans are expected to travel to the match while between 5,000 to 8,000 Serbian supporters will also be present in the west German city.

Intel reports indicate that a squad of 500 Serbian hooligans might attempt to engage in a violent confrontation against the English supporters.

Apart from the violence by fans or ultra groups, the organisers are also worried of the risk of a terrorist attack or an attempt by Russia to stir violence.


England's squad for the Euros


Goalkeepers: Dean Henderson (Crystal Palace), Jordan Pickford (Everton), Aaron Ramsdale (Arsenal)

Defenders: Lewis Dunk (Brighton & Hove Albion), Joe Gomez (Liverpool), Marc Guehi (Crystal Palace), Ezri Konsa (Aston Villa), Luke Shaw (Manchester United), John Stones (Manchester City), Kieran Trippier (Newcastle United), Kyle Walker (Manchester City)

Midfielders: Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool), Jude Bellingham (Real Madrid), Conor Gallagher (Chelsea), Kobbie Mainoo (Manchester United), Declan Rice (Arsenal), Adam Wharton (Crystal Palace