More nastiness tarnished a Hungary and England encounter at the Puskas Arena in Budapest last night.
England players were booed by Hungary fans – mostly children – while taking a knee before their 1-0 Nations League defeat in Budapest. This was despite the hosts being forced to play the game behind closed doors due to racist abuse from the stands.
According to Sky Sports, jeers were heard from the crowd while the English took a knee before kick-off in what was their first visit to the stadium since they were racially abused last year.
As reported by Reuters, UEFA imposed a stadium ban after the previous behaviour of Hungary supporters during Euro 2020 matches held in the country last year. FIFA issued a similar punishment after England were racially abused during their 4-0 World Cup qualifying win in September.
However, around 36 000 people – mainly youngsters – were allowed inside the Puskas Arena following the exploitation of a loophole for the fixture as UEFA rules permit an unlimited number of U14s to attend games behind closed doors for free. This is as long as every 10 children are accompanied by one adult.
According to other reports, European football’s governing body will not punish the hosts for booing the act of taking a knee, as it is not against its rules.
Controversy ahead of England’s Nations League tie as Hungary resorts to dodgy tactic to get around UEFA ban
The stakes for tonight’s UEFA Nations League A Group 3 encounter between Hungary and England at the Puskas Stadium just got higher.
As reported Sports Brief, the nations were involved in a nasty 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifying encounter at the same venue last year that the Three Lions won 4-0.
England players were racially abused by Hungarian supporters, having been booed by them at the beginning of the match for taking the knee.
Source: Sports Brief News
