England fans’ Euro final shame ‘won’t end World Cup bid’
»»Varadkar slams yobs who broke into Wembley »»Tanaiste also hits out at minority of racist fans
LEO Varadkar yesterday slammed the ticketless English soccer fans who broke into Wembley ahead of the Euro 2020 Final.
But the Tanaiste said the incident would not deter Ireland’s joint bid with the UK to host the 2030 World Cup.
Scores of people breached security barriers and stormed into the London stadium before the England vs Italy showpiece.
There were reports of some ticketless people being inside the stadium for the whole match and genuine ticketholders being afraid to confront those occupying their seats.
The Metropolitan Police said there had been 49 arrests connected to the match for a variety of offences and 19 officers had been injured as they confronted “volatile” crowds.
Pundits have suggested the ugly scenes will come as a severe blow to the 2030 World Cup bid, but Mr Varadkar said he remains fully committed to it.
He added: “I’m 100% behind that bid. I’m really encouraged by it and very keen Ireland should be part of that.
“I think England’s team is a tribute to their nation. Unfortunately, some of their supporters are not. We saw the violence and the bad behaviour yesterday.”
Asked if the scenes made him reconsider the joint World Cup bid, he replied: “I don’t think so, no.
“It’s a minority and I don’t think we should ever try to tar a whole nation or a whole set of fans or support, just based on the behaviour of what I believe was a minority.”
Videos were posted on social media of people being attacked within the stadium while there was also disorder in other areas of London.
Mr Varadkar also criticised England fans who booed the Italian national anthem at Sunday’s match.
He said: “We saw something really unfortunate in sport, somebody booing somebody else’s national anthem. That shouldn’t be done.
“I think it’s very disappointing that a number of English fans behaved in the way they did.”
He also called on social media companies to take action after Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka – who missed penalties in the shootout loss – were subjected to racial abuse online following the game.
Many tech companies have their European head offices in Ireland and so the Tanaiste has said he wants to publicly call for them to act on the abuse.
Mr Varadkar added: “Certainly I would say to anyone who’s engaging in any form of abuse online that that’s unacceptable.
“And certainly I’d be saying to the tech companies that they have a responsibility not to promote and to take down anything of a racist nature in that regard. I haven’t contacted them yet about it, but it’s the type of message I would happily make public here.”
Speaking in London, UK prime minister Boris Johnson backed Mr Varadkar’s position.
He said: “Obviously I think the UK does have a very good case together with Ireland and we will be making that case.
“I think it was a shame that a small minority tried to spoil it. But we will be looking at exactly what happened.
“To those who have been directing racist abuse at some of the players, I say shame on you and I hope you will crawl back under the rock from which you emerged.” Mr Varadkar congratulated
Our Irish pals were saying, ‘Please beat the English’ LUCA DE MARZIO DUBLIN YESTERDAY
Italy on their victory, while commiserating with England manager Gareth Southgate and the players who missed penalties, costing England the championship.
He said: “I saw the match last night and I think the best team won, so my sincere congratulations to Italy on their victory last night.
“I have to say, I really feel for three guys who missed the penalties and for Gareth Southgate to experience that twice in his career, losing on penalties in that way.”
Meanwhile, RTE star Ryan Tubridy has described the racist abuse directed at the three England players who missed penalties as “Ku Klux Klan” mentality.
Saka, Rashford and Sancho couldn’t convert from the spot and were targeted by vile comments online.
Speaking yesterday, Tubs said: “What was happening after England lost became a horrible reflection of the worst of England.
“The worst types of people came out, the worst attitudes came out. “And I don’t know if this would happen in any country. I’m not having an antiengland go here, I’m just saying, isn’t it fascinating that people get behind the national side… and then when it goes wrong or they don’t succeed, on a coin, lots of people turn.”
Tubridy also described the abuse for listeners who were fortunate enough to miss it online, calling it anti-social media.
On his Radio One show, he continued: “People jumped on social media – let’s call it what it is: anti-social media – and started getting into full Ku Klux Klan territory. Lynching stuff. Really nasty, really cruel.
“If the same three players had successfully brought England through to the final, I don’t imagine one mean tweet would have been sent. So what does that say?”
The 48-year-old went on to raise the issue of domestic violence, quoting a post from Pathway Project which is a service in the UK for people suffering from domestic or sexual abuse.
He read, “No one wants England to win more than women”, adding: “Domestic abuse rates rise by 38% when England lose. I know this is very heavy, but it’s also very truthful to what’s been happening as well as the football.”
The Football Association also condemned the online racist abuse.
The statement read: “We could not be clearer that anyone behind such disgusting behaviour is not welcome in following the team. We will do all we can to support the players affected.”