Lukaku: England Players Should Have Abandoned Montenegro Game

By Max Wise

England players should have walked off when some members of their team were racially abused in Montenegro last week, according to Manchester United striker Romelu Lukaku.

England ran out 5-1 winners on the day, but their impressive victory was marred by racist chants directed at Raheem Sterling and Danny Rose.

UEFA opened investigations against Montenegro, with its Control, Ethics and Disciplinary Body set to hear the case on May 16, prior to next round of EURO 2020 qualifiers in June.

In the aftermath of the incident, England captain Harry Kane has said he will lead his players off the field of play should a similar thing happen in the future.

Lukaku, however, believes England’s players should have made that statement right away by walking off.

"England should have walked off, I think, personally. To make a statement," Lukaku told Sky Sports News.

"I have seen it happen in countries and then the team would get sentenced and stuff like that. For some players, it gives us an edge, but other players can overreact, then you make a foul and you are a man down."

"It's something that we players have to stand up and talk about, so the people in top positions do something. It should be fixed and sorted because football is a multicultural game."

"We do a lot of stuff for a lot of people, so let's not forget about the racism issue. I hope we can fix it. It's going to take time."

Former Ghanaian internationals Kevin Prince Boateng and Sulley Muntari have previously walked off the pitch after being taunted with racist chants while playing for AC Milan and Pescara respectively.