Being A Victim Of Racist Harassment, Bukayo Saka: Sad, Social Media Platforms Are Not Seriously Preventing Hate Messages

Bukayo Saka (Twitter @BukayoSaka87)

JAKARTA - England winger Bukayo Saka considers social media platforms not serious about preventing online harassment after he received similar action following his failure in the Euro 2020 final penalty shootout.

Saka, who was one of three England penalty takers who missed against Italy at Wembley on Sunday, July 11, was the target of online racism along with team-mates Marcus Rashford and Jadon Sancho.

Through his personal social media, Saka posted an open letter commenting on his failure but also highlighting the awareness that doing so will lead to the hateful message he will receive.

"There are no words that can describe how disappointed I am with the result and my penalty kick. I believe we should have won this for all of you," wrote Saka in his upload on his personal Twitter account, @BukayoSaka87, Thursday night, reported by Antara.

"I'm sorry I can't bring home this trophy for you this year. However, I promise to give everything in my power to make sure this generation knows what it's like to be a champion," he added.

The Arsenal talent thanked his supporters but highlighted the failure of the social media platform to protect its users from racial attacks and harassment.

He told social media platforms Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook, he didn't want children and adults to have to receive the hateful and hurtful messages he, Marcus, and Jadon received this week.

"I knew right away this kind of hate was going to come my way and it's a sad fact that your powerful platform isn't doing enough to prevent this kind of message," he said.

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— Bukayo Saka (@BukayoSaka87) July 15, 2021

According to him, there is no place for racism or hatred of any kind in football or society.

"For the majority of people who unite against this kind of message by taking action and reporting it to the police and driving out hatred to others, we will win. Love will always win," concluded Saka.