THE FOOTBALL ASSOCIATION of Ireland have been fined €10,000 by Uefa for the booing of God Save The King ahead of September’s Nations League clash against England in September.
The English FA, meanwhile, have been fined €12,500 because some of their travelling support booed Amhrán na bhFiann before the same game.
It is understood that the English fine was higher as their supporters have been previously been punished for booing opposition anthems.
The booing of national anthems emerged as a regular pre-game trend at the summer’s European Championship in Germany, and September’s Nations League clash in Dublin was preceded by a lusty chorus of boos for both anthems.
Tánaiste Micheál Martin criticised any Irish fans who booed the English anthem, ahead of a game won comfortably by England, in which the goals were scored by Declan Rice and Jack Grealish.
“I wasn’t happy with it,” Martin told reporters in the week after the game.
“I think when we’re hosting any country in the world, we should pay respect to their anthem, just as they should pay respect to our anthem.
“But the vast, vast majority of fans did pay respect, but you get that, I mean it’s football. And I thought overall the match was played in a wonderful atmosphere, there was a very happy atmosphere in the Aviva.”
Anthems were a talking point ahead of the game, with elements of the English press criticising interim coach Lee Carsley for not singing God Save the King. Carsley, who played 40 times for Ireland, will remain in interim charge until the end of this year, at which point Thomas Tuchel takes charge.
The FAI’s total fines from the game are just shy of €26,000. They were also fined €9,250 for the lighting of flares, and €6,000 following a supporter’s invasion of the field of play.
The FA were fined another €5,000 for a separate invasion of the pitch: a YouTuber dressed in England kit snuck onto the pitch and lined up alongside the England team for the anthems, until he was spotted and escorted away by security.
The sides meet again at Wembley on Sunday week, 17 November. A portion of the away allocation for Irish supporters at Wembley has been returned to the FA, as they went unsold.
Same gombs booing that will be on the first available flights and boats to the UK every weekend.
Was always going to happen and will happen again on Sunday week when we have to play them again
@Alan Moloney: 100 percent
Ridiculous
Are the English and Italian fans fined for the havoc they cause and aggression they portray at most if not all away games and even some home games??
@Ollie Fitzpatrick: *Should have read English and Italian FA’s!!
Proper order, severe dose of ignorance and letting the whole country down booing like that.
Boooooooo!
Do they have to try and take the fun out of everything
Free speech is dead in Ireland.
Actually it’s the anthem of the Uk & NI. It’s not the English national anthem as England does not have a national anthem!
@Lulu: England have always had their anthem. The UK is England because the UK started with England and then they conquered Scotland and Wales from 1300s to 1600s and made it the anthem of Britain and then added Ireland to the Union and made official what was the standard colonial relationship anyway.. I studied History in Uni. The anthem was always.there. In different forms as the English language evolved but it was there.
@Conor Lynott: You must be fun at parties…..
@Daragh McCauley: Oh yeah, great fun. History is a popular subject at partiesbecause guess what? It’s all about stories about people and people LOVE telling stories about people, especially if it involves family members.
@Daragh McCauley: a very original response!