Jadon Sancho: England winger fears players will fall out of love with football if racism continues

Jadon Sancho says incidents of racism have made him question why he plays football and fears they will make players lose their love of the sport.

Romelu Lukaku became the latest victim of abuse on Sunday after he was subjected to racist chants while playing for Inter Milan at Cagliari.

This followed incidents of abuse directed at Paul Pogba, Marcus Rashford and Tammy Abraham on social media.

“It just has to stop,” England and Borussia Dortmund winger Sancho said.

“No player wants to play football and have abuse like that. It puts the confidence down in players and the love of the sport will go very soon if it doesn’t stop.

“It is hard to see things like this because it feels like, ‘why should we play football?'”

Sancho is currently with the England squad after being called up for the upcoming Euro 2020 qualifiers against Bulgaria on Saturday and Kosovo next Tuesday.

The 19-year-old has made a superb start to the season in the Bundesliga, scoring two goals and providing three assists in three games.

The former Manchester City youth team player was linked with a summer move to Manchester United before he committed his future to Dortmund by signing a new contract.

However, he has not ruled out moving to the Premier League in the future.

Sancho added: “I can’t tell the future but I wouldn’t mind [returning to the Premier League]. La Liga I wouldn’t mind also, but we don’t know yet.

“I feel that every league is very competitive. The Premier League is one of the best leagues in the world, everyone knows that.”