Hungary-England will play "behind closed doors" but in front of 35,000 children

There will be joy and freshness at the Puskas Arena in Budapest this Saturday, from 6 p.m.

Hungary was supposed to host England in the League of Nations (first day, group 3) in a deserted enclosure, because hit by a measure behind closed doors.

UEFA had indeed condemned Hungary to pay a fine of 100,000 euros and to play two firm matches behind closed doors following incidents linked to homophobic chants and racist insults during Euro 2021 last year. last.

But behind closed doors, there will not be in Budapest and the party promises to be even more beautiful than expected, since, according to ESPN, some 35,000 children have been invited to fill the stadium for the occasion, as well as a certain number of adults as accompanying persons - i.e. up to half the capacity of the enclosure.

In such circumstances, Article 73 of the UEFA Disciplinary Regulations specifies that certain exceptions may be made, in particular in favor of children aged 14 and under from schools and/or football academies, duly accompanied adults (one for every 10 young people).

⚽️ FLASH - Phil Foden has tested positive for #Covid19.

He is therefore forfeited to face #Germany and #Hungary with #England.

(besoccer) #positive #football pic.twitter.com/nI2ZTgp7wL

— News - COVID19 🦠 (@FRCOVID_19) June 3, 2022

This initiative was not without surprising Gareth Southgate, the coach of the Three Lions, who was rather favorable to it.

"I think we're all surprised," Southgate said on Saturday.

But we invite children to the stadium and I was not really aware of the rules at the beginning of all this.

The key is education.

I hope that the young people present in the stadium will remember this message tomorrow..."

On the merits of such sanctions, Southgate also expressed some reservations: "The reality is that in all these cases, the people who are punished are the players and the supporters who behave well, not the people which cause the problem.

It is of course very difficult to find a way not to do this, but it is complicated when you go into the details of the sanctions.

»