London (AFP)

After the monkeys scream against the black English players in Bulgaria-England, the pressure rises Tuesday on the UEFA to crack: London asks him for "punishments firm" and "get rid once and for all" of racism in the stadiums .

If England took a huge step towards qualifying for the Euro-2020 Monday night by crushing Bulgaria (6-0), the mood was stormy Tuesday on the British side.

A group of the public in Sofia verbally attacked the black players of the England team: defender Tyrone Mings and strikers Marcus Rashford and Raheem Sterling. Twice, the match had to be interrupted.

Following the lead of the British federation and an indignant British politician, Prime Minister Boris Johnson denounced an "ignoble racism that has no place in football".

According to his spokesman, he called for "an urgent investigation followed by stiff punishments" and called on UEFA to "look at the facts": "This stain on football is not handled adequately. for all football racism and discrimination ".

These racist acts were feared in a stadium Vassil-Levski already hit a private session for this game because of racist insults against Kosovo in June.

The Bulgarian authorities have stepped up, Prime Minister Boyko Borissov demanding the "immediate resignation" of the president of his football federation, Borislav Mihaylov.

He ordered the termination of all ties, including financial, with the Bulgarian Football Federation, following this "shameful defeat", until the resignation of Mr. Mihaylov, is effective. Since the latter's arrival at the head of the federation in 2005, Bulgaria has not qualified for any major tournament.

Hristo Zapryanov, the spokesperson of the Bulgarian Football Federation, said that the latter was not responsible for these excesses and that Mr Mihaylov had no intention of resigning.

"The government does not have the right to pressure or interfere in football", according to international regulations, he added.

On Monday, Mr Mihaylov had not reacted to the defeat, nor denounced the racist songs or the Nazi gestures which had enamored the meeting, leaving the stadium before the end of the match.

Bulgarian coach Krasimir Balakov said he had not heard anything, focused too much on the match.

"If it's proven, we'll have to apologize," he said. "I am in favor of strict punishment, but it must be proven otherwise it is speculation."

- Cancel the matches? -

The English Federation emphasizes that it is "not the first time that [its] players are targeted by this type of insults".

Several English players had already suffered racist insults in March against Montenegro.

Coach Gareth Southgate was prepared to follow UEFA's three-step protocol for racism.

After the match Monday night, he stressed the responsiveness of officials, reporting being "in constant communication" with the official at the edge of the field and the referees.

"The match has been interrupted twice, I know for some it will not be enough," he conceded.

At the request of the referee, the stadium announcer first called the responsible supporters to stop screaming at the half-hour mark.

And he almost got the two teams back to the locker room just before the end of the first period.

After a long discussion with the officials, the English and Bulgarian teams, the decision was finally made to play the six minutes of additional time until the break.

For the anti-racist group Kick It Out, the match should have been stopped as long as racist insults continued in the second half.

"We can no longer be satisfied with ridiculous fines or short stadium bans," he said. "If the EU really wants to tackle discrimination (...), withdrawing points or expelling tournaments must be put in place".

Target insults, Mings has nevertheless felt that his team had given "a nice answer" by showing "great solidarity": "In the end we have left the word to football".

© 2019 AFP