Harry Kane on UEFA's 3-Step Protocol: 'It Is Unacceptable to Be Racist Once'

England captain Harry Kane has criticised UEFA's three-step protocol for dealing with racism during football matches. 

The Three Lions' UEFA 2020 European Championship showdown against Bulgaria in Sofia was stopped on two occasions during the first half on Monday, after a number of black England players received abuse from the stands. Bulgaria supporters could also be seen making salutes associated with fascism.

The referee followed UEFA's guidelines for dealing with racist abuse, which included a temporary stoppage of the game and an announcement threatening the abandonment of the match. Kane said he's not sure the current system is appropriate, per Dan Kilpatrick of the Evening Standard:

"Whether the UEFA protocols is strong enough, I am not sure. Should any racial abuse should be allowed at any time? It shouldn't be. The protocol at the moment allows there to be an announcement and two or three steps before the players are taken off the pitch.

"It is unacceptable to be racist once, so I feel there can be stronger punishments and protocols. But from our point of view as a team, we stuck together, showed unity and did what we had to, and that is the most important thing."

During the game, Rob Harris of Associated Press shared the protocol put in place by European football's governing body for dealing with these types of incidents:

ITV Football provided images of some of the behaviour in the stands and footage of how Three Lions debutant Tyrone Mings reacted to the abuse:

Kane posted the following on his Twitter account after the match:

While the blueprint was adhered to during the game, England's players eventually stayed out on the field and were 6-0 winners on the night. 

Per Sky News, two of the three steps in the UEFA protocol were implemented on Monday. The game was initially stopped in the 28th minute and an announcement was made over the public address system encouraging fans inside the stadium to stop the abuse.

Even after a section of Bulgarian supporters left the stadium, Mings, Raheem Sterling and Marcus Rashford continued to be subject to abuse in the second half. 

Former England under-21 international Marvin Sordell said stricter action should have been taken:

Darren Lewis of the Daily Mirror was critical of the manner in which European football's governing body has dealt with racism previously:

The stadium in Sofia had 5,000 seats cordoned off for the match against England after Bulgaria supporters had been found guilty of shouting racist abuse during fixtures against Kosovo and Czech Republic in June. The November showdown with the Czechs will see 3,000 seats shut.

Kane netted England's sixth goal on the night, while Rashford's opener was followed by braces from Ross Barkley and Sterling.