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Sports / Football

FA pledges full review into Wembley security breach

Published: 12 Jul 2021 - 07:43 pm | Last Updated: 01 Nov 2021 - 08:29 am
Fans attempt to get through a door meant for disabled access at Wembley Stadium before the Euro 2020 final soccer match between Italy and England, in London, Britain, July 11, 2021, in this still image obtained from video. Courtesy of Mark Lindsay / Socia

Fans attempt to get through a door meant for disabled access at Wembley Stadium before the Euro 2020 final soccer match between Italy and England, in London, Britain, July 11, 2021, in this still image obtained from video. Courtesy of Mark Lindsay / Socia

Reuters

England's Football Association (FA) will conduct a full review into Sunday's security breach at Wembley Stadium ahead of the European Championship final, chief executive Mark Bullingham has said.

Fans clashed with each other and officials, breached security cordons and charged into the perimeter area of Wembley before the start of the match.

"We will do a full review and we will work with the police to catch anyone involved and make sure we can prevent it ever happening again," Bullingham told the BBC on Monday.

"Anyone caught will obviously be banned and have the right action taken against them. There were a large number trying to force their way in. We run a stadium, not a fortress.

"We have got a fantastic security team at the stadium and they had never seen anything like it. I have to apologise to any fans whose experience was affected and any of the team who had to cope with this."

The Metropolitan Police said they had made 49 arrests connected to the incident and that 19 of its officers were injured as they confronted "volatile" crowds.

The FA, in a separate statement, condemned the behaviour of the fans who forced their way into the stadium as "unacceptable" and "dangerous".

"No steward or security staff should be subjected to this type of behaviour and we thank them for their support on the night," the FA said.

"We also apologise to anyone at the match whose experience was affected by this unprecedented level of public disorder."

"We will continue to work with the relevant authorities to identify and take action against these people where possible."