‘England has escaped disaster around the final of the European Football Championship’

Friday, December 3, 2021 at 3:24 PM• Jordi Tomasowa • Last update: 15:34

The chaotic situation in and around Wembley ahead of last summer’s European Football Championship final could have resulted in deaths, according to an independent investigation commissioned by the English Football Association FA. With 65,000 spectators, the final between England and Italy was completely sold out, but about two thousand supporters without a ticket tried to enter Wembley. In the run-up to the European Championship final, more and more new images of the disturbances surfaced.

According to researcher Louise Casey, England has more or less escaped disaster. The investigation into the disturbances during the European Championship final describes that a dangerous situation with ‘drunk and under the influence of drugs, who did not have a ticket’, could have led to deaths. England were defeated by Italy on penalties. The final was marred by disturbances among the spectators, both before and during the match.

Casey describes it as a “day of national shame”, outlines “a terrible disorder” and concludes that there was a “collective failure”. Among other things, the deployment of stewards around the stadium left much to be desired and the police scaled up too late. She emphasizes, however, that those who are primarily responsible for the disturbances are those who have “lost control of their own behaviour.” “England was once again in a grand final for the first time in 55 years. However, the team was abandoned by drunk and drugged thugs, who did not have a ticket. This group has abused vulnerable and disabled people, as well as police officers, volunteers and Wembley staff,” Casey said.

“We are lucky that there were not much more serious injuries. We must act as hard as we can against people who think that a football match is somehow an excuse to behave like that.” security,” with another 6,000 people storming the stadium to celebrate.

25,000 seats at Wembley were empty for the match due to the coronavirus restrictions. The English Football Association FA has been fined £84,560 by UEFA for the disturbances and the national team had to play one match behind closed doors. “We fully accept the findings of the report and we and the other authorities involved can draw important lessons from this,” said Mark Bullingham, head of the FA, who apologized to those who had a ‘terrible experience’ at Wembley. “Collectively, we must never let this happen again.”