By Kate Fishbone ‘22, Sports Writer

In a recent soccer game played in Bulgaria between the Bulgarian and English teams, the Bulgarian fans displayed hate and racism towards the English soccer players. The chanting, raising of Nazi salutes, and attacking of black players by the Bulgarian fans led to conflict both immediately on the field and in the time that followed. 

The qualifier game was stopped multiple times in an attempt to control the fans, who demoralized the opposing team. England beat the home team 6-0, but was still impacted by the hateful words and signs they had to play in the midst of. 

Tyrone Mings, and his teammates, Raheem Sterling and Marcus Rashford, all black, seemed to be targeted with the racist behavior. Their skin color was targeted with offensive comments that were hard to ignore. Mings raised his concern about the behavior to the linesman and English manager in the first half. The first stoppage of the game came with a threat to cancel the rest of the game, but the behavior did not stop. Before the first half even ended, the game was stopped again for more hateful behavior. At halftime, the English team was given the option to walk off the field and end the game, but they chose not to. Up 4-0, they wanted to finish the game. Team captain Ivelin Popov tried to calm the fans and get them to stop their racist actions. 500 people were thrown out of the stadium because of their inappropriate and unacceptable behavior. Despite these measures to tame the crowd, the fans would not let up, and the English team was faced with racial discrimination for the entire game. 

The words and signs impacted more than just the players, but also the multiracial staff for England. Even after the game, no one paid attention to the 6-0 win since it did not feel like a win for England. Based on the articles that are looking at the conflicts with the game rather than the result, the win had little impact because of the racial behavior the team had to endure. 

In the days following the game, the events created lots of talk and controversy around the world. For starters, the president of the Bulgarian soccer program, Boris Mihaylov, was asked to step down by the prime minister, Boyko Borisov. Borisov demanded that the sports ministry refuse to fund the soccer team until Mihaylov resigned. Along with the program president, the coach, Krasimir Balakov, and the executive committee of the team have all quit. 

This racism, in many stadiums, is seen as just part of the game. Racism is present in these countries and around the world, so fans in the stadium use the excuse that it is simply what is going to happen. Anti-immigration, Nazi marches, and racism against Muslims are present in Bulgaria and Italy, and these actions may be contributors to the attitude that racism is acceptable in the stadium. What goes on at these events is being carried over to soccer games, which should not be happening. 

Soccer players should be accepted into the stadium by fans, who should be excited to see what will happen on the field. Instead, they are being treated with racist comments and gestures. Action is being taken to try and prevent racism from the stadium, but the players are still not treated as they should. The treatment of the Bulgarian players shows the extremity of the discrimination and the need to end the unacceptable behavior of the fans.