LAST UPDATE | 4 Jun 2022
ENGLAND PLAYERS were once again jeered when they took the knee ahead of their Nations League clash with Hungary, as a crowd in excess of 30,000 watched on despite the hosts being forced to play behind closed doors.
The majority of the bottom two tiers of the Puskas Arena were full for the Group A3 opener in Budapest.
Uefa had ordered Hungary to play three games in empty stadiums, the third of which has been suspended, following the behaviour of fans during Euro 2020.
One of those Uefa bans came against England on Saturday but, while article 73 of the governing body’s disciplinary regulations caps the number of VIP guests, team delegations, Uefa staff and those holding complimentary tickets, there is no limit on the number of school children invited to the match free of charge – with one adult accompanying every 10 children.
The England players – as is custom – took the knee in a stance against racism and discrimination, only to be jeered by most of those in attendance.
Hungary have concurrent Fifa sanctions in place – a two-match stadium ban with a game suspended, following racist abuse aimed at England players during the 4-0 World Cup qualifying win for Gareth Southgate’s side last September.
Southgate had professed his “surprise” at the reported attendance figure on the eve of the match, with a crowd of around 3,000 expected at England’s Nations League game with Italy at Molineux later in the month, as the Football Association serves its one-match stadium ban for the trouble ahead of the Euro 2020 final defeat at Wembley last summer.
After the 1-0 defeat, the England manager gave his view on the events. “How that aligns with the decision is difficult to understand,” Southgate replied when asked if the attendance for the game makes a mockery of UEFA’s rulings.
“From a development perspective, I want and need the team to be playing in front of supporters. But of course, that’s not the point in this instance.
“So I’m torn on what we actually got from that and what the reality should have been. I think that needs some consideration without a doubt. In actual fact the atmosphere when we arrived at the stadium, there were kids lining the streets, it was really friendly.
“They were waving when we were walking out to warm up. I thought there were sort of pantomime boos when our team came out to warm up.
“That was different with the taking of the knee but that felt like inherited thinking to me. We do it to try to educate and I think young people can only be influenced by older people.
“I have no idea why people would choose to boo that gesture and very often young people can’t know why they’re doing it so they’re being influenced by older adults – everyone knows what we believe and what we stand for.
“What I would say is, I hear that still in our stadiums as well. That’s why we do it and continue to take that stand and we will keep doing that as a team.”
England’s Nations League game at home to Italy next weekend will also be played behind closed doors, at Molinuex, following the behaviour of supporters ahead of the Euro 2020 final defeat to the same opponents last summer.
