91Èȱ¬

Following the racial abuse of England players during their Euro 2020 qualifying match against Bulgaria on 14 October, the President of the Bulgarian Football Association has now left the job.

Borislav Mihaylov was told to quit by the country's prime minister after some Bulgaria fans in the crowd were sang racist chants and made gestures during the game.

Uefa, which is football's European governing body, now says it is going to do everything it can to get rid of the racism "disease" and has started disciplinary action against Bulgaria.

The match was paused in the 28th minute and a stadium announcement was made that if the racist behaviour carried on, the match would be stopped.

It was then stopped for a second time in the 43rd minute. A group of Bulgaria supporters then started to leave the stadium.

In a statement, the Football Association said England players were subjected to "abhorrent racist chanting" that was "unacceptable at any level of the game".

England still managed to win the match 6 - 0 securing them a top spot in Group A.

To tackle racism, football body Uefa has a three-step process, which was first introduced in 2009.

In this match the first step was taken and players were asked if they wanted to come off the pitch, but they decided to carry on.

England Manger Gareth Southgate said: "I explained to the players that if anything else did happen in the second half we would be coming off.

"We all saw the second half was calmer and that allowed our players to do their talking with the football."

Before the game there were already concerns, with England striker Tammy Abraham saying players would be prepared to walk off the pitch if there was any racist abuse.

Some of the England team, including captain Harry Kane, have posted on social media reacting to what happened during the match.

Football Association chairman, Greg Clarke, was at the game and said it was "one of the most appalling nights I've seen in football".

Anti-racism charity Kick It Out said: "There can be no more pitiful fines or short stadium bans. If Uefa cares at all about tackling discrimination - and if the Equal Game campaign means anything - then points deductions and tournament expulsion must follow."

After the second time the game was stopped, some Bulgaria fans started to leave the stadium.

Former England striker Ian Wright, a pundit for Match of the Day, said: "It's a great day. I feel really good watching this. We have had so many games where we have had this racial abuse and people say 'just beat them on the pitch'. It doesn't do anything. Today, they won because [the abusers] had to leave."

Football Association chairman Greg Clarke has said: "Uefa, who I've spoken to throughout the game, at half-time and at the end of the game, will be carrying out a thorough investigation to make sure this appalling scene of terrible racism is treated appropriately".

Uefa told 91Èȱ¬ Sport that any action in response to Monday's events would have to go through a disciplinary committee, which has to wait for a referee's report.

It's not the first time that players in England's Euro 2020 qualifying campaign have been subjected to racist abuse.

In March, Raheem Sterling spoke out about the abuse received by England players during their 5-1 win in Montenegro.

Montenegro's punishment was to have two home games played behind closed doors and a fine of 20,000 euros (£17,000).