The Times - UK - 04.12.2021

It is uncertain how many games
Casey has attended but she urges “en-
hanced enforcement of bans on alcohol
consumption on public transport and
in other designated public spaces” and
“refusing entry to fans who arrive
chanting foul abuse and/or are clearly
under the influence of alcohol and/or
drugs”. She’s right, but to ensure even a
semblance of enforcement will require

matchday police numbers to double, let

alone transport police, and who is going

to pay for that? Society or football?

Football needs to contribute more

financially. Unless it does, those who

will suffer are the decent majority of

match-going fans. Unsurprisingly, some

have been put off going to games such

was their grim Wembley experience.

The authorities have to raise their game.

Even disabled

were targeted

by drug and

drink-fuelled

ticketless fans

the times | Saturday December 4 2021 2GS 5

Sport

LEE SMITH/ACTION IMAGES/REUTERS

‘Sterile area’ and alcohol bans for

matches of ‘national significance’

Football

Matt Lawton, Martyn Ziegler

The head of the independent review

into the serious crowd trouble that

marred the Euro 2020 final has recom-

mended a new category for football

matches “of national significance”.

Baroness Casey of Blackstock’s

report suggests these games would

involve enhanced policing and security,

setting up a “sterile area” around Wem-

bley restricted to ticket-holders, and

bans on drinking alcohol on public

transport and in other designated

public spaces.

“The prospect of new legislation is

welcome and timely as it gives the gov-

ernment the opportunity to update the

legal framework that governs spectator

safety which has not been significantly

reviewed since the Hillsborough

tragedy,” Baroness Casey said.

The report blamed a “collective fail-

ure” of the FA, the Metropolitan Police

and the local authorities to foresee the

issues that led to 2,000 ticketless thugs

illegally gaining entry to Wembley Sta-

dium on July 11. Baroness Casey said

there were a series of “near misses” that

could have easily led to people suffering

serious injury or even loss of life, adding

that a victory for England against Italy

that evening would have resulted in an

escalation of the violence.

However, she believes the FA should

be supported in a bid for the

2030 World Cup, expressing confi-

dence that the lessons learnt will mean

there is not a repeat of what she

described as a day of “national shame”.

Asked if she believed the FA could be

trusted to host a major tournament, she

said: “Yes I do, because hindsight is one

of the most amazing things in that you

can learn from previous experiences.

Mistakes were made, made by FA, by

the police. There were people with their

head torches only looking at their own

area, rather than the bigger picture.”

With much of the blame aimed at the

ticketless hooligans in the review, it

helps the FA’s case that the report does

not single out senior officials for criti-

cism. “Reviews that look only to find

scapegoats are much less valuable,”

Baroness Casey said. “The important

thing is whether change happens as a

result.”

Mark Bullingham, the FA chief exec-

utive, said he was confident the

national governing body could stage a

successful World Cup. “Aleksander

Ceferin [the Uefa president] has already

come out and said he does not believe it

will have an impact on our ability to bid

for or host major international events

in the future,” he said. “I do believe we

are still in a good place to bid for events.

“But we’ve got to learn a lesson from

this and make sure we do bring about

those changes in terms of the sea

change in fan behaviour.”

A key concern remains around the

creation of an effective security perim-

eter around Wembley when the

national stadium is surrounded by

apartment blocks, shopping areas, bars

and restaurants. “We think it is possible

to put in place a different kind of outer

security perimeter and further meas-

ures,” Bullingham said.

“We don’t believe that that would

have prevented what happened on the

day. We believe that’s far more about

fan behaviour and that’s the fundamen-

tal issue to address.”

Baroness Casey said it was an area

under review, with safety experts look-

ing at how to introduce a larger outer

perimeter. She expects there to be a

new “order of national significance”.

The key, she said, was using “Euro

Sunday to eradicate hooliganism”. “We

have to learn the lessons from this near

miss so we don’t see scenes like that

again that result in greater tragedy,” she

said. “I don’t think you’ll find Wembley

is an easy target from here on in. The

police, Brent and Wembley now know

how they want this policed. There’s

almost a danger they will over-police it.

“That message needs to go out to any

thug who thinks they might attack

stewards again.”

‘Collective failure’

Near-misses at Wembley’s

Euro 2020 final could have

cost lives, review finds

News, page 8