'It's one of those things we shouldn't be sat here talking about it in this day and age. It shouldn't happen but it does happen. Now UEFA have said they'll deal with the matter and hopefully we won't hear it [racist abuse] happening in this tournament.'

Young may find that is wishful thinking. Incidents in the build-up to the tournament's opening games on Friday suggested that racist elements in both Ukraine and Poland are intent on airing their views during the tournament.

It was a fear of what might be in store for him that prompted Manchester City's Italy striker, Mario Balotelli, to claim that if he was racially abused at Euro 2012 he would 'straight away leave the pitch and go home'. That threat placed racism on the tournament's agenda and put UEFA president Michel Platini on the back foot.

Platini responded by insisting: 'If a player left the field on his own, he would get a yellow card. It's not Mr Balotelli who's in charge of refereeing. It's the referee who makes these decisions.'

But the threat to book players who walked off the pitch because of racist abuse sparked an outcry because it appeared that UEFA were prepared to punish the victims of abuse rather than tackle the perpetrators. Just as the issue seemed to have cooled, Holland's squad were subjected to racist abuse at an open training session in Krakow, the Polish city where England are also based. Dutch captain Mark van Bommel reacted angrily, saying: 'It is a real disgrace. We will take it up with UEFA and if it happens at a match we will talk to the referee and ask him to take us off the field.'

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