Perhaps even more than a surprising defeat of the English vice-champions of the European Football League on the pitch of Hungary, the speeches of the fans before the start of the match were addressed in the media. Although only children could go to the stands in Budapest, even the English, who have traditionally knelt to protest against discrimination, hissed.
The Hungarian footballers lost to England 1-0 and after the first match of the League of Nations they took the lead in the strong group A3, which still includes Italians and Germans. Dominik Szoboszlai scored the first Hungarian victory over Albion since 1962.
However, the match attracted and irritated the island media before the start.
Due to racism at last year’s European Championships, the game was to be played behind closed doors, but the Hungarians took advantage of the exceptions in the rules of the European Football Union UEFA and put at least children under the age of 14 in the stands.
About 30,000 of them came to the Puskás Arena, with a compulsory escort from schools or football academies, the total visit was about 35,000 spectators. And when the English footballers traditionally knelt before the match, there was a whistling and buzzing from the stands.
“It seems that children have an innate reaction here,” said English national team coach Gareth Southgate after the match. “I was surprised. But precisely because the lack of tolerance is still around us, we will not stop this gesture,” he added.
American football player Colin Kaepernick knelt down as a speech against racism years ago, and it spread massively in the world of sports in 2020 after the death of a black man, George Floyd, who was kneeling on his neck by a white police officer for many minutes.
Gradually, however, the public began to feel the gesture. In America, for example, according to research, political overlap has discouraged viewers from playing sports.
The English are still kneeling before the matches and experienced whistling from the fans in Hungary last autumn before the qualifying duel for the World Cup. English players Jude Bellingham and Raheem Sterling also complained of racist screams and insults at the time.
In Prague’s Eden, the Whispers were whistled again due to their knees.
“It’s a big disappointment for me. It’s important that people realize why we’re (kneeling). We don’t want to hear such a reaction. We just want to pass on our message,” said English defender Conor Coady after the 0: 1 defeat.
“We’re trying to educate people all over the world with that gesture. I don’t understand why the fans are buzzing at us,” coach Southgate added.
BBC Sport journalist Phil McNulty commented on the situation: “It was a ridicule of severe irony. The purpose of the punishment was to act as a deterrent against further racist or homophobic behavior by fans.”
Zoltán Kovács, a spokesman for the Hungarian government, objected to the reactions suspecting the Hungarian children’s audience of racist behavior.
“Anyone who thinks that children at a football match in Budapest can be blamed for any political speech is a real idiot,” he wrote.
Last year, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán called the gesture of kneeling before a sports match a provocation. “If you are a guest in a country, try to understand its culture and do not provoke. From our cultural point of view, such a gesture can seem incomprehensible, such as provocation,” he said.
As whistling and humming against kneeling are not against the rules, UEFA will not deal with the events in Budapest this time. England’s retaliation against Hungary in the League of Nations is scheduled for Tuesday, June 14 in Wolverhampton.
Hungarian children’s fans during the match against England in the League of Nations. | Photo: Reuters
