Racism is a problem that must be dealt with at home, not just away
Criticism of Montenegro fans comes easily but racial abuse is an issue in UK stadiums all too often.
Tuesday 26 March 2019 22:35, UK
An England team scoring five or more goals in consecutive games for the first time since 1984, and in a Euro qualifying campaign.
The rise and rise of Raheem Sterling, the emergence of youngsters Callum Hudson-Odoi and Declan Rice and probably Ross Barkley's best ever night in an England shirt.
There was so much to be impressed with as England stormed to a 5-1 victory over Montenegro on Monday night.
But yet again, a fixture in Europe was overshadowed by racism. This time it was seemingly large swathes of the Montenegro supporters making monkey chants towards England's black players.
Sterling, who has become one of the leading voices condemning racism in football in recent months, responded in a fashion which belittled the bigots, cupping his hand to his ear as he celebrated a goal.
Almost immediately after the match, he took to Instagram and posted the picture, captioning it: "Best way to silence the haters (yeah I mean racists)."
To see a leading player being so forthright about the discrimination they face is refreshing and Sterling continues to reframe the debate about racism.
He was supported by manager Gareth Southgate, whose strong condemnation in the press conference after the match made sure the abuse his players endured took centre stage and wasn't simply treated as an unfortunate sideshow.
But the fact the chanting was apparently so widespread within the stadium and effectively greeted with a shrug of the shoulders by Montenegro coach Ljubisa Tumbakovic shows there is a long way to travel in stamping out racism in Europe.
It is a sad indictment of UEFA's efforts to tackle discrimination that Danny Rose faced similar racism while playing in an under-21 game for England in Serbia in 2012. Nine years later and it must have felt like deja vu to him.
UEFA has opened disciplinary proceedings against Montenegro and will now be intensely scrutinised for how it deals with the issue.
If found guilty, the minimum possible punishment is a partial stadium ban, but the governing body will be under pressure to go much further than that.
A disqualification from Euro 2020, as called for by the anti-discrimination body Kick It Out, would be the ultimate punishment.
The FA condemned the behaviour of sections of the Montenegro crowd and said the key was to learn from experiences.
But we should not be complacent in England because discrimination is on the rise here, too.
Before Sterling was abused in Montenegro, he was targeted allegedly because of the colour of his skin at Stamford Bridge.
And let's not forget that it was only earlier this season that a banana skin was thrown onto the pitch, aimed at Arsenal's black striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
It is a problem that needs to be combated at home as well as abroad.