Lewis Hamilton calls out treatment of Black England footballers by the British media

Former Formula One world champion Lewis Hamilton has shared a post on Instagram calling out the treatment of Black players in the England squad by the British media.

Following England's dismal defeat at the hands of Iceland at Wembley on Friday night numerous players for the Three Lions came under heavy criticism but Arsenal's Bukayo Saka was not one of them, having only played the last 25 minutes.

Despite this many top publications and newspapers within the UK used an image of Saka leading many to accuse the media of scapegoating the young Black players in the squad which could lead to racist abuse.

This was most prominent after the Euro 2020 final when Saka, Jadon Sancho and Marcus Rashford were the subject of racist social media attacks after they missed their penalties in the shootout against Italy.

Now Hamilton has spoken out against the use of Saka's picture to illustrate the Iceland defeat. On his Instagram stories, the 39-year-old racing driver shared a post from the website VERSUS calling for accountability from the British media.

The post states: “We need to hold the English media accountable for systemically vilifying Black players. The constant scapegoating of Black players needs to stop. This endemic racial discrimination has no place in football, yet countless news outlets suggest otherwise.”

Elsewhere former England and Arsenal legend Ian Wright spoke out against the implications of the headlines and the image of a forlorn Saka, suggesting that the public was already being 'gaslit' should Gareth Southgate's team fail to win the Euros.

England slumped to a 1-0 defeat to Iceland on Friday in what was supposed to be a grand send off for the team as the head to the Euros in Germany. The Three Lions have now just won one of their last five matches with experienced players such as Jack Grealish, Harry Maguire, Marcus Rashford and James Maddison not included in the final squad.

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