England boss Gareth Southgate urges young Hungary fans to ‘recognise why this is an opportunity to bring more tolerance’ as Three Lions prepare for Nations League clash… having suffered horrendous racial abuse at same venue last year
- England’s match against Hungary was supposed to be behind closed doors
- But a UEFA loophole allows 30,000 children and their guardians to attend
- Gareth Southgate admitted that it was a ‘grey area’ for UEFA to deal with
- Southgate said England would also grant kids access to Molineux for Italy clash
England manager Gareth Southgate hopes the closure of the Puskas Arena to supporters except for 30,000 children and their guardians for Saturday’s Nations League clash will be an ‘education for the next generation’ in Hungary.
The venue in Budapest will be nearly half-full for the match despite a UEFA order for the stadium to be closed because of racist abuse from fans during Euro 2020.
Children will be in attendance for the game due to a loophole in UEFA’s rules, which state that ‘children under the age of 14 from schools and/or football academies can be invited to the match free of charge’. Every 10 children must be accompanied by one adult.
Gareth Southgate has been speaking ahead of England’s Nations League trip to Hungary
Fans are banned from the game in Budapest – but 30,000 children and their guardians will be in attendance due to a UEFA loophole which allows them to attend the match free of charge
Southgate revealed England would also take advantage of the rule when England face Italy behind closed doors at Molineux on June 11 as punishment for the unrest at the Euro 2020 final, when the two countries met at Wembley.
While Hungary was waiting to serve a three-match ban from UEFA for the incidents which occurred at Euro 2020, they were handed a separate two-game ban by FIFA after further racist abuse was directed towards England’s players from the stands during a World Cup qualifier in September.
‘We’ve shown how we feel about these issues, in terms of racism and it’s unacceptability,’ said Southgate.
‘Hopefully the young people in the stadium will recognise why this opportunity has happened and in some ways maybe this will be part of the education for the next generation.
England captain Harry Kane said it was up to UEFA to decide punishments on crowd issues
‘Each generation that passes will bring more tolerance and we have the same situation in our country, so we’ve got to keep setting the right example.
‘All being well, the young people will enjoy the game and take a bigger message from it.’
Southgate admitted allowing children and their guardians inside stadiums that are supposed to be closed as a result of fan behaviour was a ‘grey area’.
‘We are inviting children into Molineux as well,’ he added. ‘Players want to play in front of full stadia, but whether that is appropriate is for UEFA to decide.
‘I imagine Hungary will have the same feelings about restrictions on their home games as us; they won’t want it to happen again.
‘Everybody learns from every experience. Our players wanted to focus on the football after that night [when Hungary fans were punished for racist abuse]. They played incredibly well and we want to do that again.’
England captain Harry Kane said: ‘It’s down to UEFA and what they see fit as the punishment.
‘We can only perform to the best of our ability and try and get the three points. We hope the game goes well for the fans watching, for the children coming to watch the players.
‘We’re concentrating on the game and we want to get off to a good start.’
