The police provided
England
The players described the threat of online racism during Euro 2024 and assured them that any abuse during the tournament would be taken seriously.
Marcus Rashford
Bukajo Saca
and Jadon Sancho were targeted for missed penalties in the last Champions League final in 2021.
But the national head of soccer policing in England and Wales says prosecuting offenders is now easier as social media companies become more cooperative.
"We've explained to the players that we're here to support them," Chief Constable Mark Roberts said. He said his officers briefed the team at the St. George's Park training base in England.
"We gave them some advice on how to protect themselves by setting up their own accounts to try and stop this happening and reassured them of our presence.
"If people do engage in this behavior, we will deal with it and prosecute where possible."
Roberts' warning comes as authorities prepare to send the largest contingent of British police in more than a decade to an overseas event, with hundreds of thousands of fans due to travel next month.
Roberts said, "It's really frustrating when you see some of the mistreatment of our black players - so we've done a lot of work with social media companies."
"We were at a stage where it was taking them more than six months to provide us with the detailed information we needed. Now the situation is much more positive and we've got a lot of support from them. This can be turned around in a matter of days, which means we can prosecute people."
"In this country, if someone thinks they can do that and remain anonymous, they can't - we'll find them. I'd ask them, when they're thinking about entering something, to put it forward six months when you're walking up the steps of a courtroom ...... you could lose your job or get kicked out of college. It's just not worth it for a moment of stupidity."
Roberts said he expected more than 300,000 British fans to travel to Germany.
"The last few World Cups - Qatar and Russia - have been financially and logistically challenging, so this is the first really achievable tournament since France (2016), " he said.
He warned fans who cause offense or violate public order laws with inappropriate slogans that they could face arrest or fines.
"The Germans are quite fair about it - but there is a limit."
Security measures for Champions League matches were stepped up last month after a media outlet supporting the Islamic State group published threats against the venue. Despite the security concerns, Roberts said he had full confidence in the hosts.
"The Germans are very well organized. There are always concerns when you go to a tournament. It's impossible to rule out all contingencies, but if you want a host who is in control, then Germany is your best bet."
Roberts was also asked if he was concerned that England fans could be targeted and how concerned he was about hooliganism - this season
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