Dhe English association FA got away with a rather mild sentence after the misconduct of some fans in the semi-finals of the European Football Championship against Denmark. The European Football Union UEFA imposed a fine of 30,000 euros on Saturday. The use of a laser pointer by spectators, interference by fans while the Danish national anthem was being played and fireworks were all punished. England will play this Sunday (9 p.m. in the FAZ live ticker for the European Football Championship, on ZDF and on MagentaTV) in the final against Italy in the Wembley Stadium.
It was still unclear what the results of the British police investigation would be. British State Secretary Susan Williams announced this in Parliament in London on Thursday. She described the incident in which Denmark’s goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel was shone in the face with a green laser pointer during a penalty kick in the semi-finals last Wednesday as “hideous”.
Schmeichel saved the penalty, but Harry Kane (104th minute) scored in the margin to make it 2-1. Obviously, this wasn’t a one-off action during the game at Wembley. “I didn’t notice it during the penalty,” said Schmeichel, “but I noticed it in the second half. I told the referee and I think he told one of his linesmen. “
“That was not fair”
Defender Jannik Vestergaard also reported numerous laser attacks on Schmeichel, who nevertheless showed numerous brilliant saves. “There were some things that weren’t exactly fair from the spectators, but when a lot is at stake, then of course all means are allowed,” said Vestergaard: “I didn’t see it on the penalty kick, but I got it in the first Noticed and also seen at half time that Pierre-Emile Höjbjerg pointed this out to the referee in the second half. “
Incidents with the anthems had already occurred in previous games. Before England’s round of 16 against Germany (2-0), whistles and boos were heard during the anthems.
The Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto, meanwhile, sharply attacked the European Football Union after the punishment for the country’s national team. UEFA had punished the Hungarian team for discriminatory behavior by its fans at the European Championship games against Portugal, France and Germany, including two home games without fans. “It seems that UEFA employs well-known spectator informers based on the model of the (communist) factory fighting groups,” wrote Szijjarto on his Facebook page on Saturday. “You have nothing else to do than write reports about who said or didn’t say what in the audience.” As in communism, “no evidence, just an informer report,” he added.
The disciplinary body of the Continental Association ruled on Friday that Hungary’s national football team must play their next two UEFA home games without spectators. For a third batch, a probation of two years applies. For this, the Hungarian association has to pay a fine of 100,000 euros.
The disciplinary body justified the decision, among other things, with the fact that, according to the police, Hungarian fans chanted homophobic chants before the start of the game in Munich. At the games in the Puskas Arena in Budapest, fans had racially insulted several French players and hosted the Portuguese star Cristiano Ronaldo.
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