Euro 2024: Why England Players Will Stay off Social Media During the Tournament

• England players will reportedly stay off social media during the 2024 European Championship coming up in Germany
• The Three Lions are aiming to win their first major tournament since 1966 after finishing runners-up at the last edition
• The FA and leadership group of the team are working to ensure the players have minimal distractions during the event

The England national team players participating at the 2024 European Championship in Germany will reportedly stay off their social media accounts throughout the tournament.

England will hope to move a step better than their outing at the tournament in 2021, where they finished runner-up to Italy after losing on penalties in the final.

They are drawn in Group C with 1992 winners Denmark and Slovenia and have their opening game against Serbia, a group they're expected to proceed from to the knockout stage.

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Why England players will stay off social media

According to Mail Sport, the players will stay off social media throughout the tournament to avoid distractions, particularly online abuse from fans.

Though the reported blackout is voluntary, the players have been briefed on how to safely use social media if they want to. Harry Kane and Declan Rice are two players who will keep it silent on their accounts.

The Three Lions stars received 1546 online abuses during the 2022 FIFA World Cup group stage and 12,500 during Euro 2020, during which they lost the final.

According to a FIFA report, their 2-1 loss to France and subsequent elimination in Qatar saw online abuses spike by 38%, the most of any game at the tournament.

The English media have come under heat after the 1-0 loss to Iceland in the final warm-up game after most used an image of Bukayo Saka, who only featured for 25 minutes as the face of the defeat.

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The Telegraph was also criticised for publishing an article questioning whether Kobbie Mainoo has the defensive discipline to play as number 6 despite the game still ongoing.

This led to outrage from fans on social media, which received backing from black sports personalities, including Arsenal legend Ian Wright and F1 star Lewis Hamilton.

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Sports Brief reported on Declan Rice wanting England to win Euro 2024 to heal him of the hurt he's feeling after Arsenal lost the Premier League title to Manchester City with two points.

Rice’s first season saw the Gunners push Man City to the final day before losing the title, an improvement on the previous year when they lost it with three games to spare.