England to complain to UEFA about racist abuse in Montenegro

PODGORICA, Montenegro (AP) — England manager Gareth Southgate says the English Football Association will make an official complaint to UEFA after alleging at least one of his players received racist abuse during the European Championship qualifier at Montenegro.

Asked about suggestions of racist chanting toward some of his players, Southgate says he “definitely heard abuse of Danny Rose” near the end of the game. Rose is black.

Southgate says “there’s no doubt in my mind that happened and we’ll report it to UEFA. It’s not acceptable.”

Another black player, Raheem Sterling, cupped his ears in front of Montenegro fans after scoring England’s fifth goal in its 5-1 win in Podgorica. Sterling was jeered and an object was thrown onto the field.

Southgate says “I’ve not had a chance to speak to Raheem. … We’ll definitely deal with it in the right way and we have to make sure we support our players.”