The Three Hijabis call on football to urgently tackle racism and gender based violence in the game.
11th July 2024.
Gareth Southgate’s England team’s success in getting to a consecutive Euro Final is bringing so much joy to us England fans and also helping to heal old wounds, that evoke racial trauma following the shameful racist abuse directed at at Sancho, Saka and Rashford after their penalty misses at the Euro final against Italy in Wembley, more than three years ago.
Our record breaking and viral anti-racism petition was backed by more than 1.2M people, standing in solidarity with the players and the England team, calling on the government, tech companies and football to ban racist ‘fans’ for life from England games and football. We have not seen the game in England or the tech companies doing nearly enough to make these changes. We call on them to take action.
Football belongs to all England fans and must be a safe space for everyone. Once again, we are witnessing this England team displaying courage, tenacity and unity, showing up for each other and working as one, under the leadership of Gareth Southgate. It was very moving to see Starboy Saka step up and take a magnificent penalty, showing us how the dehumanising demons of racism can be tackled, when we are surrounded by active solidarity from our team and community.
Too often people of colour are left to tackle racism and its repercussions alone. All our brilliant penalty takers in the Quarter Finals were Black players or of mixed heritage. They slammed those penalties in against Switzerland unapologetically, with pride and power.
The Three Hijabis work continues alongside communities to tackle racism and gender based violence in football, sport and wider society. Come on England! Let’s do this!
The Three Hijabis.
Image credit: @England on X
