Savills suspends employee as it looks into racist tweets after Euro final
Savills #Savills
The estate agency Savills has suspended an employee following racist tweets after England lost the Euros 2020 final in a penalty shoot-out on Sunday evening.
A series of tweets from a member of staff used racist insults to blame the Black England players in the team, and have been shared widely on social media. The account linked to the employee also joked about domestic violence.
The suspension is pending the outcome of an investigation that the company launched following the discovery of the tweets, according to a spokesperson for Savills.
In a statement released on Monday, the company said: “Savills is committed to eliminating discrimination and encouraging diversity amongst our workforce”.
The statement also said that the company will undergo an investigation regarding the “unacceptable incident,” without giving further details.
The England team have said they are “disgusted” after Bukayo Saka, Marcus Rashford and Jadon Sancho, who missed the penalties in the shoot-out against Italy, were all subjected to racist abuse.
Saka, who missed the decisive penalty, was abused on his Instagram account on Sunday night, only minutes after the game had finished.
The social media companies whose users abused the players are facing increased pressure to take action.
In another incident that took place less than an hour after the shoot-out, a mural of Marcus Rashford in south Manchester was defaced with derogatory comments in a “racially aggravated” incident that police are now investigating.
Leading figures from across the political and sporting spheres have come out to publically condemn the racism following the loss on Sunday, with Boris Johnson saying that those responsible for the “appalling abuse” should be “ashamed of themselves”.
The Duke of Cambridge, president of the Football Association, also came out in support of the players, saying he is “sickened” by the “abhorent” racism aimed at England’s footballers and calling for the perpetrators to be held accountable.