England pays a heavy price for its fans’ riots

The UEFA Disciplinary Committee has decided to penalize England by playing its next match in the UEFA competition without an audience, after English fans rioted during the Euro 2020 final.

The decision was also applied to the second match that followed, with the suspension of implementation, according to the sports website “The Athletic”.

The Football Association was also fined 100,000 euros, as it was responsible for the actions of English fans, especially since the match was on English soil.

The European Football Association (UEFA) punished England, citing “a lack of order and discipline in and around the field, intrusion into the field of play, throwing objects and whistling during the playing of the national anthem”.

The ban will only apply to UEFA competition matches, meaning that England will play their first match of the 2022-2023 season in the Nations League at Wembley without fans, and this does not include the World Cup qualifier match next month against Albania.

The FA requested an in-person hearing in the case, which was held via video link on Monday.

In a statement after the decision, they said: “Although we are disappointed with the referee, we acknowledge the outcome of UEFA’s decision.”

They added: “We condemn the shameful behavior of the individuals who caused the shameful scenes in and around Wembley Stadium in the Euro 2020 final, and deeply regret that some of them managed to enter the stadium.”

“We are determined that this can never be repeated, so we have conducted an independent review,” they said. “We continue to work with the relevant authorities to support their efforts to take action against those responsible and hold them accountable.”