Carl Recine/Action Images, via Reuters
LONDON — Bulgaria’s prime minister called on the president of the country’s soccer union to step down on Tuesday, a day after England’s players were subjected to racist abuse from Bulgarian fans in a game that the local team lost 6-0.
Bulgarian supporters made Nazi salutes and shouted monkey chants at England during a European Championship 2020 qualifier match with Bulgaria’s national team on Monday night in Sofia, the capital.
Fans’ racial abuse toward players has been a stain on the game for years. And the episode comes as the sport and its governing bodies — including FIFA and UEFA, which oversees European soccer — have struggled to clamp down on the racist abuse of players of color.