“They are an embarrassment to the team”
The FA have condemned the behaviour of England fans in Portugal after they clashed with police on Wednesday night ahead of the team’s UEFA Nations League semi-final with the Netherlands.
Bottles were thrown at Portugal fans as they watched their side beat Switzerland 3-1 thanks for a hat-trick from captain Cristiano Ronaldo.
Kicking off at Fan Zone after England fans throw bottles at police and police respond by charging at England fans … police cheered on by locals pic.twitter.com/yTGnqAiB3d
— Sean Ingle (@seaningle) June 5, 2019
The FA have labelled this aggressive behaviour “an embarrassment” while a UK police chief has said it is “completely unacceptable.”
The FA have released a statement, saying it “strongly condemns the scenes witnessed in Porto overnight.”
“Anyone responsible for these disturbances cannot be seen as true England supporters and are not welcome in football. They are an embarrassment to the team and the thousands of well-behaved fans who follow England in the right way.”
The Football Supporter’s Association also “unreservedly condemned the anti-social behaviour and violent disorder”.
Chief executive Kevin Miles said: “This is exactly the type of incident that Football Banning Orders (FBO) were made for and we’re sure the authorities will be seeking to identify perpetrators.
“While the UK police don’t have powers of arrest in Portugal they can retrospectively apply for FBOs which stop these people getting into UK stadiums or following England away.
“The most galling aspect of these incidents – which most England fans didn’t witness, let alone condone – is that the rest of us will all suffer as a consequence of the reputation perpetuated by this minority of idiots.”
This is not the first time England fans have caused trouble when travelling abroad – Euro 2016 was a particular low point as fans clashed with Russian fans in Marseille ahead of their opening group stage match.
Last week, the FA launched their ‘don’t be that idiot’ campaign, warning fans against engaging in anti-social behaviour.
