EEngland’s national football team has criticized the repeated boos in Hungary and wants to continue to set an example together in the fight against racism. “We’re definitely not going to stop as a team,” said Wolverhampton Wanderers defender Conor Coady after Saturday’s 1-0 draw in the Nations League in Hungary. Screams could be clearly heard in Budapest after the English team dropped to their usual knees just before kick-off. “I’ll be honest, it’s really disappointing,” Coady said of the reactions at the Puskás Aréna.
“We just hope that people understand it more and more. We want to make positive changes as a team and as a nation,” Coady said. “It’s important that we stay true to our principles. It’s important that we carry on what we’ve been talking about for the past few years.” Many people now know what the England team stands for. “If people don’t like it, that’s the way it is,” Coady told Sky Sports.
The England players began calls for the eradication of racial injustices in society last year. “I have no idea why people are booing at this gesture,” said England coach Gareth Southgate. The former professional said the reason for the kneeling was that his team primarily do such actions to try to “educate people”.
In an interview with Channel 4, the 51-year-old did not want to directly criticize the fans in Budapest. Many younger people probably don’t even know why they are booing at all. “They are influenced by older adults,” Southgate surmised. “That’s not right, nobody wants that. Not in Hungary, not in any football stadium in the world. The Hungarians still have to learn a thing or two,” said record national player Lothar Matthäus, who coached the Hungarians himself from January 2004 to December 2005, on RTL.
Despite the ban on spectators because of the discriminatory behavior of the Hungarian fans, the stadium was well filled. According to the regulations of the European Football Union UEFA, children up to the age of 14 may enter the stadium for closed-door games if they are invited and accompanied by an adult. According to media reports, more than 30,000 visitors were registered before the game.
Because of the discriminatory behavior of its fans in the European Championship games against Portugal, France and Germany, Hungary’s national team was sentenced to two UEFA home games without spectators. This sentence was later reduced to one game, and another game was suspended for two years. In England’s World Cup qualifiers last year, Hungarian spectators behaved racistly.
Jude Bellingham, professional from Borussia Dortmund, and star striker Raheem Sterling from Manchester City were mocked with monkey noises during the English team’s victory in the World Cup qualifier (4-0) in Budapest on September 2, 2021, and there were also people in the Puskas Arena Beer mugs and flares flown onto the field. The FIFA Disciplinary Committee had described the racist incidents as “disgusting behavior” and condemned them in the strongest possible terms.
The English will also have to play their first home game in the Nations League on June 11 in Wolverhampton against Italy without a spectator. The association was sentenced to do this a year ago because of the riots surrounding the European Championship final. The UEFA regulations for children visiting the stadium should also be applied, and between 2,000 and 3,000 fans are expected.
England, who came second in the European Championship, lost at the start of the Nations League in the German group after a goal by Hungarian Bundesliga professional Dominik Szoboszlai from RB Leipzig. The 21-year-old converted a not uncontroversial penalty kick in the 66th minute. Next Saturday (8.45 p.m. in the FAZ live ticker for the Nations League and on RTL) Hungary will welcome the DFB team, before that England will have to play in Munich after the failed start on Tuesday (8.45 p.m. in the FAZ live ticker for the Nations League and on ZDF). .
There was also an incident with spectators before the German game on Saturday. However, the Italian internationals and a number of fans drowned out the disturbances during the German national anthem on Saturday before the game against Germany. When boos and whistles were heard from some of the spectators at the Stadio Renato Dall’Ara in Bologna, the pros, most of the fans and also the Italian journalists started to applaud loudly. The Italian anthem before the Nations League game was then played without any problems.
