No more excesses after a match, this is the goal put forward by the English Football Federation on Monday. For this, she announced the opening of an independent investigation into the eruption of supporters in Wembley stadium during the final of Euro 2021. According to articles in the English press, thousands of supporters have managed to enter in the stadium on July 11, storming the gates before Italy won the trophy at the expense of England.
In the stands and corridors during the match, supporters with tickets exchanged blows with those who had broken into, according to images relayed on social networks. An estimated 200,000 people were outside Wembley, an enclosure which had a capacity of 67,500 people for the final. Scenes of drunkenness and violence marred the event.
FA officials said on Monday they informed the Department of Digital Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) of the investigation over the weekend and promised to identify those responsible for the “Shameful scenes” observed before and during the match.
“We are determined to fully understand what happened outside and then inside Wembley Stadium during the Euro-2020 final,” the FA said in its statement.
This commission of inquiry, headed by Baroness Casey of Blackstock, will meet with all parties concerned and include outside experts, in order to “learn lessons” and “ensure that such shameful scenes can never happen again. », Underlines the federation. “We continue to work with the relevant authorities to support their efforts to identify those responsible and hold them to account,” the FA added.
Police have since released CCTV footage of some of the people they want to question. The three England players who missed their shot on goal Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka were the victims of racial abuse on social media. These behaviors, like those observed near Wembley, have been widely condemned. These incidents have raised doubts about the chances of success of the joint bid of the United Kingdom and Ireland to host the 2030 World Cup.
