The judge sentenced Jonathon Best, 52, from west London to 10 weeks in prison at Willesden magistrates court on Tuesday.

He pleaded guilty to sending by public communication network a grossly offensive or indecent or obscene or menacing message.

Elaine Cousins, from the Crown Prosecution Service, told PA Media:

“Jonathon Best took to Facebook to live stream a barrage of racist abuse at the three players who missed penalties during the game.

“He used social media to publicly vilify these three young men who tried to score for England. When approached by a Facebook friend asking him to remove the grossly offensive content, Best replied: ‘It’s my profile, I can do what I want.’

“There is absolutely no room in the game, nor elsewhere, for racism. The CPS is committed to bringing perpetrators of hate crime to justice where there is the evidence to do so.”

Aaron Ramsdale and Bukayo Saka called up to the England squad. #AFC pic.twitter.com/TOqxLFwx9E

— Chris Wheatley (@ChrisWheatley_) November 4, 2021

The abuse took place after the Euro 2020 final this summer. Best used social media to insult the players after they missed the final three penalties. This led to the Three Lions losing the final.

The court heard that the individual, who was a work colleague and Facebook friend of Best’s, reported the 18-second Facebook video. The friend made the report to the social media platform and the police after Best refused to remove it.

Facebook eventually took the post down after three days.

“I would like to thank the individual who reported this appalling hate crime and I hope this prosecution goes some way in educating and deterring people from posting hate on social media,” Cousins added.

An inspiration. A hero. A baller. And only 24.

Happy birthday, @MarcusRashford pic.twitter.com/yHQcyupTMF

— B/R Football (@brfootball) October 31, 2021

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Players in the Liverpool senior squads have taken the knee since the return of football last June, following its suspension in England due to Covid-19.

The club announced the teams’ desire to continue to take the knee against racism in a statement this morning and underlined that the action sends the message that prejudice of any kind is simply unacceptable, in football or in society.

Men’s senior captain Jordan Henderson welcomed the decision made by the Premier League last week that players in the league will continue taking the knee.

“On behalf of all of the players at Liverpool, I want to restate our commitment to taking the knee in the Premier League this season and welcome the decision that was taken by the Premier League last week,” said men’s captain Jordan Henderson.

“There has been unfounded debate about why footballers are continuing to demonstrate in this way but there should be none. It is very simple – we are protesting against racism.

“The question should no longer be why are we doing it, it should be why wouldn’t we? This is a necessary response to a problem that we know exists and which we also know should not be happening.

“So I’m proud of my teammates when we take the knee and I also couldn’t have been prouder to be captain of this club when our supporters applauded us as we did so.

“It is only by doing what is right and coming together that we can achieve positive change and it is in this spirit that we will carry on taking the knee.”

LFC Women captain Niamh Fahey said: “As a women’s team we’re pleased that the football authorities will once again support squads who wish to take the knee.

“We saw even this summer around the Euros that the scourge of racism remains not just in football but in society. It shows, sadly, that the reason we took the knee last season remains every bit as relevant this season.

“It is our way of saying there is no place for racism or other forms of discrimination in our game, and that things must change.

“We will proudly wear the Take A Stand badges on our playing shirts this season and we know our supporters will be firmly behind us when we take the knee before our games.”

The campaign will see both teams wear sleeve badges in support of the message they are sending.

Liverpool Men’s will wear ‘No Room For Racism’ in the Premier League while the Women’s side will wear  Kick It Out’s ‘Take A Stand’ in the FA Women’s Championship.

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