“That’s not right,” says Lothar Matthäus. The English national team is very disappointed – at the away game in Hungary, the sign against racism is booed by the stands. As a punishment, no one is actually allowed to sit there. Nevertheless, 30,000 people are in the stadium.
England’s national football team has criticized the renewed boos in Hungary and wants to continue to set an example together in the fight against racism. “We’re definitely not going to stop as a team,” said Wolverhampton Wanderers defender Conor Coady after the 1-0 Nations League draw in Hungary. Boos could clearly be heard in Budapest after the English team dropped to their usual knees just before kick-off. “I’ll be honest, it’s really disappointing,” Coady said of the reactions at the Puskás Aréna.
“We just hope that people understand it more and more. We want to make sure that things change positively as a team and as a nation,” Coady said. “It’s important that we stay true to our principles. It’s important that we’re going to carry on what we’ve been talking about for the past few years.” Many people now know what the English team stands for. “If people don’t like it, that’s the way it is,” Coady said on Sky Sports.
The England players began calls for the eradication of racial injustices in society last year. “I have no idea why people are booing at this gesture,” said England coach Gareth Southgate. His team primarily do such actions to try to “educate people,” said the ex-professional about the reason for kneeling. In an interview with Channel 4, the 51-year-old did not want to directly criticize the fans in Budapest. Many younger people probably don’t even know why they are booing at all. “They are influenced by older adults,” Southgate surmised.
“That’s not right, nobody wants that. Not in Hungary, in any football stadium in the world. The Hungarians still have to learn a thing or two,” said record national player Lothar Matthäus, who supported the Hungarians himself from January 2004 to December 2005 trained at RTL.
Despite the ban on spectators because of the discriminatory behavior of the Hungarian fans, the stadium was well filled. According to the regulations of the European Football Union UEFA, children up to the age of 14 may enter the stadium for closed-door games if they are invited and accompanied by an adult. According to media reports, more than 30,000 visitors were registered before the game.
Because of the discriminatory behavior of its fans in the European Championship games against Portugal, France and Germany, Hungary’s national team was sentenced to two UEFA home games without spectators. This sentence was later reduced to one game, and another game was suspended for two years. In England’s World Cup qualifiers last year, Hungarian spectators behaved racistly.
The English will also have to play their first home game in the Nations League on June 11 in Wolverhampton against Italy without a spectator. The association was sentenced to do this a year ago because of the riots surrounding the European Championship final. The UEFA regulations for children visiting the stadium should also be applied, and between 2,000 and 3,000 fans are expected.
Vice European champions England lost at the start of the Nations League in the German group after a goal by Hungarian Bundesliga professional Dominik Szoboszlai from RB Leipzig. The 21-year-old converted a not uncontroversial penalty kick in the 66th minute. Next Saturday Hungary will welcome the DFB team, before that England have to play in Munich after the unsuccessful start on Tuesday.
