Danish woman claims assault by England fans after semi-final
A Denmark supporter who attended Wednesday’s Euro 2020 semi-final at Wembley says she was physically assaulted by England fans as she made her way home after the game.
Jeanette Jorgensen, who has lived in west London for 15 years, went with three cousins after obtaining tickets through the Danish Football Association (DBU).
“When we were walking away from the stadium after the game, people started shouting things like: ‘You don’t belong here,’” she told the Guardian. “We also had a Danish flag and they were trying to take it away from me but I pulled it back and said: ‘Just leave it.’ Then they started pulling my hair as well and I couldn’t believe what was happening. It was quite frightening.”
According to Jorgensen, the group comprised “six or seven” England fans aged between 20 and 40. When they had moved on after a further confrontation with her cousins, she informed a nearby police officer.
“I spoke to the police but I’m not sure if anything happened,” Jorgensen said. “I was so shaken up so I just wanted to get home.”
A report in the Evening Standard described how a nine-year-old boy fled to the top deck of a bus after his father was confronted and punched in the stomach by an England fan when a group of 40 spotted their shirts through the windows. There have been claims that some young Denmark supporters were spat at when they entered the stadium.
“My daughters aged 14 and 11 did not dare show off their Danish shirts and hats because they were intimidated by the English fans,” Sigrun Matthiesen Campbell told the Danish website DR. “We were spat on when we entered the stadium, and people shouted insults.”
Denmark were allocated 8,000 tickets, the majority snapped up by supporters who live in the United Kingdom because of strict quarantine rules for those travelling from overseas. But Jorgensen saw several England fans in the Denmark section and witnessed other unpleasant incidents before, during and after the game.
“I saw an English bloke go up to this kid and try to remove him from his seat,” she said. “It was a frightening experience. We had to buy our tickets through the DBU because they wanted us all to sit together. I’m not sure what happened but there were definitely lots of English fans amongst us, which made the atmosphere go a bit numb. I think some people got a bit frightened because they were very aggressive.”
Ronnie Hansen, the DBU’s commercial director, confirmed to DR that he had noticed England fans in the Danish section but said it was Uefa’s and Wembley’s responsibility to keep track of that. “If you have experienced something at such a violent level, then I think you should report it,” he said.
Jorgensen and other Denmark fans have posted about their experiences on Facebook groups for Italian expatriates in London before Sunday’s final to warn them to be on their guard.
“We just wanted to watch a nice game and have a good evening – we didn’t want any of this trouble,” she said. “There were so many who were not like that but what I’m worried about is the Italian fans. I hope they don’t have to go through the same thing.”