Racial abuse, disorderly conduct, police probe: England lost the Euro final, his fans have a plot
BEFORE A SINGLE penalty shoot-out against Italy on Sunday, Gareth Southgate and his men won the hearts of their country as England progressed to the European Championship final. But it, what happened before, počas a po vzájomnom súboji o titul – na uliciach, na tribúnach a on the net – odhalilo škaredé podbruško anglickej hry.
V 80. a 90. years were periods, keď priemerné anglické futbalové fanúšičky charakterizovalo jediné slovo – chuligán. Incidents of rioting worsened in the following decades, but London did it again on Sunday, that the frenzy for this game can often turn out to be the worst for football fans.
It was the first major tournament final in England after 55 years and tickets were limited. So a large number of fans took matters into their own hands and stormed Wembley. The security apparatus was grossly outnumbered and could not prevent fans without tickets from entering the venue.
Then the 23-year-old Marcus Rashford, 21-year-old Jadon Sancho and 19-year-old Bukayo Saka were the targets of racial abuse afterwards, who missed free kicks in the penalty shootout. These comments led to a police investigation and conviction.
“Tento anglický tím si zaslúži pochvalu ako hrdinov, not racially abused on social media,” uviedol na twitteri predseda vlády Boris Johnson. England captain Harry Kane supported his young teammates with words: “If you abuse anyone on social media, you are not an England fan and we don't want you.'
Even offline, the fans' behavior was deplorable. BBC Activity correspondent Alister Magowan quoted the fan as saying: “A complete failure of the police and the manager of a major event. There was no security perimeter, no ticket checks, no control and almost no stewards. I effectively got into the stadium without a ticket. I had one, but the ticket was not activated on my phone, because the stewards just gave up on the Covid check. The queues were huge. Because my ticket was not activated, I slipped in through the turnstiles with my girlfriend. “
According to BBC Sport's chief football writer Phil McNulty: “Security was ineffective and rarely is at a major final, when fans can get so close to the stadium without tickets. The situation inevitably turned into a terrifying sight of barriers, which was invaded by dozens of fans without tickets, who are desperate to get to Wembley. The children were left scared, another knocked to the ground, full aisles and an area reserved for disabled spectators flooded with supporters looking for somewhere to sit. Fans, who legitimately paid to watch England's first major final for a while 55 years, remained effortless to watch this game. “
If that wasn't bad enough, abuse, which met with few Italian supporters, did not paint a flattering image of the average England fan. After the defeat, the hooligans took out their frustrations on the Italian fans, they often physically attacked them.
Italian supporter Roberta Cuppari said, that she and her boyfriend must watch the match, according to BBC Sport, which was crushed in the corner, while swearing at him and abusing him afterwards, as fans without tickets settled down and refused to move. “Bolo to najhoršie, čo som kedy videl.” Boli ľudia, who urinated, people did drugs, " she was quoted as saying.
The police initially denied, that people without tickets would enter the stadium, but the Football Association promised a thorough investigation of the violation and cooperation with the police to ban the entry of anyone, who broke in.
was one of the few moments of Barcelona's inspiration in the opponent's area, that the long wait for the main title is not over, they sought out England's disillusioned legions of scapegoats and came prepared in the form of Team Black players, Rashforda, Sancha a Saku, who missed penalties during the shootout.
While their manager, teammates and the football facility closed in around them, reactions revealed fault lines on several levels.
“Pre niektorých z nich je zneužívanie neodpustiteľné,” uviedol Southgate na tlačovej konferencii. “Niektoré z nich pochádzajú zo zahraničia, we were told, ale niektoré pochádzajú z tejto krajiny.”
When the English team took a collective knee before matches, to express solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement, some sections of the audience booed. Some politicians also expressed an opinion, including Home Secretary Priti Patel, that it was "gesture politics" and the players would better focus on the game.
In fact, they were after Sunday's game, when Johnson and Patel denounced the abuse of players, accused of hypocrisy.
The deputy leader of the opposition Labor Party Angela Rayner said, that Johnson and Patel started the fires themselves. “Predseda vlády a minister vnútra dali licenciu rasistom, who booed England players and are now racially abusing England players,” uviedla na Twitteri. “Boris Johnson and Priti Patel are like arsonists, who complain about the fire, into which they poured gasoline. Total hypocrites. “
However, it is obvious, so admirably multicultural, like the England team on the turf, there is still a long way to go, to make these values an integral part of the stands. As long as Rashford and Co keep winning, they will be known. But at night, like sunday, when it goes wrong, they will be suitable parachutes for people, who still have a colonial idea about it, what Britain should be like. —With agency inputs