England’s Euro 2020 qualification match against Bulgaria was twice halted by the referee on Monday night because of racist chanting in the crowd.

Racist abuse could be clearly heard in the stadium throughout the first-half, with defender Tyrone Mings among the England players who complained about the chants to the referee.

The first step of UEFA’s protocol was enacted in the 28th minute – a stadium announcement calling for the abusive chanting to stop – after conversations between the fourth official, Croatian referee Ivan Bebek and England captain Harry Kane.

The stadium announcer said: “This is an important stadium announcement, because of racist behaviour which is interfering with the game, the referee has indicated that he may have to suspend the match.

“Racism in football stadiums will not be tolerated. Please be in no doubt that the game will be suspended and may be abandoned if racist behaviour continues amongst spectators. Help everyone enjoy the game and say no to racism. Thank you.”

England suffer racist abuse in Bulgaria Show all 12 1 /12 England suffer racist abuse in Bulgaria England suffer racist abuse in Bulgaria England's players were subjected to racist abuse during Monday night's 6-0 Euro 2020 qualifying win over Bulgaria in Sofia.



Here are some of the most notable responses. PA England suffer racist abuse in Bulgaria England forward Raheem Sterling "Feeling sorry for Bulgaria to be represented by such idiots in their stadium. Anyway.. 6-0 and we go back home, at least we did our job. Safe travel to our fans, u guys did well." Getty Images England suffer racist abuse in Bulgaria England boss Gareth Southgate "We know it is an unacceptable situation. I think we have managed to make two statements by winning the game but also we have raised the awareness of everyone to this situation." AFP via Getty Images England suffer racist abuse in Bulgaria FA chairman Greg Clarke "I would like to see a very stringent review by UEFA because I know they take racism very seriously. If we say 'we've got zero tolerance for racism', one person making monkey chanting noises is the same as 100 - zero tolerance is zero tolerance." AFP/Getty Images England suffer racist abuse in Bulgaria England striker Marcus Rashford "Not an easy situation to play in and not one which should be happening in 2019. Proud we rose above it to take three points but this needs stamping out. Thankful to the brilliant England support. You got behind us in the most meaningful way possible tonight and we are all very grateful. Have a safe journey home and take care. Also been told what the Bulgaria captain did at half-time. To stand alone and do the right thing takes courage and acts like that shouldn't go unnoticed." Action Images via Reuters England suffer racist abuse in Bulgaria England debutant Tyrone Mings "Hopefully the higher powers will deal with the incidents that happened, we couldn't do much more on the pitch." Getty Images England suffer racist abuse in Bulgaria MP David Lammy "Monkey chants and Nazis salutes from Bulgarian fans is utterly deplorable. England players should not have to put up with this kind of vile abuse. UEFA must act and kick them out of international football altogether." PA England suffer racist abuse in Bulgaria Former England defender Rio Ferdinand "Will there even be a punishment? What type of punishment.... Will this show us how serious racism is taken by the powers that be?" PA England suffer racist abuse in Bulgaria England goalkeeper Jordan Pickford "Good win under difficult circumstances. There is absolutely no place for scenes like that. Proud of the team tonight." UEFA via Getty Images England suffer racist abuse in Bulgaria England defender Harry Maguire "The best way to bounce back. Proud of the team. There's no place in football for that - disgraceful behaviour. Something must be done." Getty Images England suffer racist abuse in Bulgaria Former England captain Gary Lineker "Gareth Southgate has shown, once again, under trying circumstances what a sound, measured and intelligent leader he is. We've got the right man in charge of our young team at the right time." EPA England suffer racist abuse in Bulgaria Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn "Solidarity with the England players who faced appalling racism tonight. UEFA needs to do far more to tackle this kind of abuse." EPA

The stadium announcement marked the first stage of Uefa’s three step protocol for challenging racist behaviour.

The second is for the players to be taken to the dressing room. Uefa’s final step is for the referee to abandon the match.

However, the abuse persisted and the match was again paused shortly before half-time, after England manager Gareth Southgate made a further complaint to a Uefa official.

England manager Gareth Southgate spoke to the fourth official with around five minutes of the regular 45 to go, while defender Tyrone Mings was seen asking an assistant referee, ‘Did you hear that?’ during the first half and Nazi salutes were seen among a section of the home fans.

After a short discussion, England’s players elected to return to the field of play. Moments later, Raheem Sterling scored to give England a 4-0 lead at the break. England eventually won the match 6-0.

Bulgaria captain Ivelin Popov then became involved in a heated debate with a section of home supporters near the tunnel as the rest of the players headed for the dressing rooms at half-time.

The Levski Stadium was subject to a partial closure for this match after Bulgaria were sanctioned for racist chanting during qualifiers against Kosovo and the Czech Republic.

At the half-time interval ITV pundit Ian Wright described it as a “great day” in trying to tackle racism.

Bulgaria fans at the Euro 2020 qualifier (Getty)

He said: “It’s a terrible day for the Bulgarian people and how they have been represented, it’s a great day in respect of trying to tackle racism.

“We can see over in that stand, with those (anti-racism) banners, which mean nothing.

“What we’re seeing is a set of fans who do not care and need educating.”

The former Arsenal and England striker continued: “As a black player, we’ve heard it for many years about walking off.