FA And Met Police Wembley Stadium Review To Take Place
Following the chaotic scenes at Wembley Stadium during the Euro 2020 final between England and Italy, the Football Association and the Metropolitan Police are now reviewing how the match was handled.
The Metropolitan Police claim that it had warned the football authorities that many ticketless fans were on the way whilst the FA claim the majority of the trouble was in Wembley Way, outside the stadium, in an area which was the responsibility of the police. However, according to our sources it’s clear there were multiple problems in both areas, which has been evident from the widespread images and videos circulating on social media.
The fact that a situation was allowed to develop with such apparent ease has lead many to believe that this was a well organised tactical plan by gangs resulting in between 3,000-4,000 people entering the stadium illegally. However, in reality there is nothing tactical or even particularly organised about small groups pushing over fencing or pushing through lines of stewards. The fact that the vicinity of many access routes to Wembley Stadium are in such condensed funnels, along with being within quite densely built up areas, and very close to the inner circles of the stadium, does make it tricky for these areas to be controlled without a huge amount of security and probably policing. However, the perfect storm here was created by the first final for England in 55 years, coupled with a greatly reduced capacity, and aligned to the fact that a huge number of tickets fell into the ‘wrong hands’ in the first place, which is always an issue with UEFA ticketing. It was inevitable that these incidents would happen, and it really should have been expected, as dreadful and horrific in some cases in would have been to witness. We just hope it doesn’t put some people, and particularly frightened children who had to witness these scenes, off going to football games in the future.
What is not surprising is anyone attaching blame to other parties when the incidents were absolutely inevitable for all concerned. Policing was of course forced to place resources across numerous areas and private security and stewards may have to consider their own personal safety in these situations, when they have no legal jurisdiction supporting them. Barriers and fencing appeared inadequate, but these are typical of any large events. The fact is that those trying to restore order were overwhelmed, overrun and overpowered, by heavy numbers of supporters, in the main influenced further by drink, or in some cases drugs. It would’ve been a frightening situation for staff.
We have heard many incidences of bribes, fake tickets and storming of gates all around the stadium concourses, with disabled entrances being watched purposely, until they were opened to throw previously captured supporters back out into the perimeter. However, these incidents do happen at big finals throughout the season, often it can be nipped in the bud quite quickly, but the swathes of fans attempting to gain entry, and to a late kick-off here all contributed to the issues. We fully suspect a full review will result in action taken to resolve certain failings, so that there is no repeat of any wide-scale incidents like this involving an England game at Wembley in the future.
This incident has now put into question Britain’s chances of bidding for the 2030 World Cup, with Prime Minister Boris Johnson adding his thoughts to the situation by saying that these unsavoury incidents should not detract from what was a very successful hosting of the tournament games at Wembley overall.
Deputy Assistant Commissioner Jane Connors has said the operation at Wembley was one of the most significant and comprehensive policing plans the Met has ever committed to a football match of this scale’, she went on to say: "Police commanders recognised this could result in ticketless fans attempting to get into the stadium; they updated security officials at Wembley of this risk." She added that stewards at the stadium became "overwhelmed" soon after the gates opened. Concluding by saying: "I do not accept that the policing operation failed and I stand by the difficult decisions made by police officers and the Met's public order commanders. Without their immediate intervention, it is possible that this game could have been abandoned."
The Met's statement appeared to be aimed at defending itself against suggestions poor policing was to blame for an incident which may threaten Britain's chances of bidding for the 2030 World Cup. So far twenty-six people have been arrested following events at Wembley and another 25 in central London, following various incidents at fan parks and congregating supporters in both Leicester and Trafalgar Squares.
