England fans spark fears of crowd trouble in Munich by buying tickets in the Germany end for tomorrow night’s Nations League clash… with 2,000 ticketless fans allowed to buy seats simply by using their hotel address
- There are serious concerns about crowd trouble in Munich on Tuesday evening
- Germany host England in the Nations League at Bayern Munich’s Allianz Arena
- English fans are reportedly buying tickets in the Germany section of the ground
- Gareth Southgate hoped he would not be ’embarrassed’ by fans’ misbehaviour
- England were allocated 3,466 tickets; the FA estimates 2,000 more could travel
England supporters have ignited fears of crowd trouble by buying tickets in the home end for Germany’s clash with England.
Hansi Flick’s side host the Three Lions in the Nations League at the Allianz Arena in Munich on Tuesday night, in a replay of the Euro 2020 round of 16 knockout tie.
And the Times reports that the FA estimates around 2,000 ticketless fans could travel to Bavaria in southern Germany and sit alongside the home support en masse – a recipe for disaster despite the alcohol ban inside.
England supporters have ignited fears of crowd trouble by buying tickets in the home end for Germany’s Nations League clash with England at the Allianz Arena in Munich on Tuesday night
Widespread occurrences of violence marred England’s run to the Euro 2020 final last summer
England were allocated 3,466 tickets for the match.
But only 53,000 tickets had been sold by Sunday evening in the 70,000-seater stadium – leaving sizeable empty areas in the German ends.
So England fans have turned to novel means of securing a ticket – registering as Germany supporters on the Germany football federation’s website and, often, using their hotel address as part of the process.
The Times claim they were able to buy a ticket for €45 – around £40 – using the address of a German hotel, plus a UK bank card and email account.
German authorities believe this loophole is being routinely exploited by England fans, typically using WhatsApp to communicate, with large groups thought to have booked seats together, including a party of 50 from one Premier League side.
Three Lions manager Gareth Southgate warned that crowd trouble could affect the squad ahead of the first major trip abroad in front of a full crowd for the side since the coronavirus pandemic.
England were allocated 3,466 tickets for the match. But only 53,000 tickets had been sold by Sunday night in the 70,000-seater stadium, leaving sizeable empty areas in the German end
Authorities believe a further 2,000 ticketless England supporters could travel and try to get in
Three Lions manager Gareth Southgate (left) warned that crowd trouble could affect the squad
He said: ‘It definitely has an impact. It means staff are working on things detracting from the main part of their job.
‘You are embarrassed when you hear about it, because you know it’s a representation of your country, in the same way there’s been a brilliant representation of that across the world in the last couple of days.
‘So we’re always conscious of that. I think we can only give the correct messages, then you’ve got to rely on people behaving themselves.’
Although the German equivalent of the FA, the DFB, are attempting to cancel tickets bought this way, they could struggle to discern hotel addresses from residential properties. The Times report the DFB has been approached for comment.
