England punished for EURO Final Shenanigans

The England National Football Team have been handed a one match stadium ban following trouble at the Euro 2020 final, causing concern for a potential bid for the 2030 World Cup.

The ban was handed down by UEFA, with another one match ban suspended. The ban follows crowd trouble at the EURO 2020 final, which England lost on Penalties to Italy, after ticketless fans fought with police and stewards and forced their way into the stadium. The ban will apply to the next UEFA home game played by England, which will be in the nation’s league next June. The trouble has caused concern about a potential bid for the 2030 World Cup, which the FA were said to be interested in doing. The reason for this concern is that, due to the ban being about fan trouble, it would reflect badly on the FA and its ability to host a major event such as the 2030 World Cup, especially with expected tough competition from a joint bid from South America, whilst a potential Spain-Portugal joint bid may well be preferred by other European countries compared to a bid from England as well as the rest of the UK and Ireland, which had been thought to have been interested in a joint bid with England.

Despite the ban, Simon Morton, the UK Sports Chief, has stated that the bid is not “Up in smoke”, also citing UEFA President Aleksander Cerefin, who last month stated that the trouble at the final “Would not count against” a UK and Ireland bid.

It should also be noted that the ban will only apply to matches in UEFA competitions, and that matches in FIFA competitions, such as England’s World Cup qualifier against Albania next month, will not count towards the ban.