English football found some of its old demons on Sunday in the Euro final which saw ticketless fans forced their way into Wembley Stadium and fights broke out inside the sports arena.
England didn't just lose the Euros on Sunday night by losing in the final against Italy. She also lost control of some supporters, gathered around the London stadium in the early morning before the final: tipsy, they threw stones and projectiles, they insulted Italian supporters and finally, "a small number of people "forced security checks and managed to enter the stadium without a ticket, according to London police and a stadium spokesperson.
This incursion raises questions about the security system planned for the sports enclosure in which Prince William, his wife Kate and their 7-year-old son, George, actor Tom Cruise and former footballer David Beckham were located.
It could also compromise the candidacy for the organization of the 2030 World Cup of the country, which has worked hard in recent years to solve the problem of hooligans, whose excesses had led to the exclusion of English clubs from the European Cups in the late 1980s.
"The thugs are obviously and rightly condemned, but Wembley security needs to be better. The scenes and attacks towards the Italians and their anthem is a disgrace and also a disaster for the @FA 2030 World Cup bid" , tweeted Henry Winter, journalist for The Times newspaper.
The English Football Federation (FA) has "strongly condemned" these intruders and promised to "work with the relevant authorities" to sanction them.
- "Drunk thugs" -
During a press conference, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who attended the match, considered "shameful that a small minority (...) behaved badly". He acknowledged "difficulties" on the part of the police in enforcing social distancing.
But he said he was confident that the United Kingdom still had "a very good case" to host the 2030 World Cup. together with Ireland,
FA chief executive Mark Bullingham has apologized.
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"We have a fantastic security team at the stadium and they've never seen anything like it," he told the BBC. "There were a lot of drunken thugs trying to force their way in, we're running a stadium, not a fortress."
Footage circulating on social media showed dozens of ticketless supporters knocking down barriers in the face of overwhelmed security guards.
In a video, visibly taken in the hallways of the stadium, we also see a group of men kicking and punching others, including people on the ground, while stadium agents try to intervene.
Mike Keegan, journalist for the Daily Mail, spoke on Twitter of his "worst experience" during this final with a "chaotic organization, invisible police, fans without tickets out of control" and a Wembley stadium filled with more than 60,000 spectators and transformed in "huge ground conducive to Covid".
The London police, the "Met", made 86 arrests and announced that 19 officers had been injured during "confrontations with violent crowds". "This is totally unacceptable," she tweeted.
- Covid risk -
"They're not fans. They're thugs," lambasted the Metropolitan Police Federation, which represents thousands of London police.
In the center of the British capital, police also faced raging fans, especially around the Trafalgar Square fan zone.
In terms of health, the images of the match showing tens of thousands of spectators screaming or embracing each other in the stands, often without a mask, may have been shocking at a time when more than 30,000 new daily contaminations are recorded in the United Kingdom.
“Am I supposed to enjoy watching the transmission unfold before my eyes?”, tweeted Maria Van Kerkhove, responsible for coordinating the fight against the pandemic at the World Health Organization (WHO), warning that the Covid- 19 would not take a "break" during the final.
