England defender Harry Maguire said his father had injured ribs and trouble breathing after being caught up in the surge when hundreds of fans without tickets broke through security barriers to get into Wembley Stadium in a bid to watch Sunday’s European Championship final against Italy.
UEFA on Tuesday asked an investigator to study violence by England fans at the game.
The English Football Association has been separately charged with multiple offences by fans before and during their teamтАЩs loss to Italy in a penalty shootout after a 1-1 draw.
Maguire told The Sun newspaper his father was “in the stampede” and had been scared but didn’t seek medical treatment.
тАЬI have seen a lot of videos and have spoken to dad and my family. It was my dad and agent who suffered the most,” Maguire told the tabloid. тАЬHe was struggling with his breathing afterwards because of his ribs, but heтАЩs not one to make a big fuss тАФ he got on with it.тАЭ
UEFA’s charges against England’s FA also relate to booing ItalyтАЩs national anthem, a fan who stopped play by running on the pitch, throwing objects, and lighting fireworks.
While those offences typically result in fines, more serious punishment such as full or partial stadium closures can follow the kind of violence seen on Sunday.
The official attendance was around 67,000 of the stadiumтАЩs 90,000 capacity, with many seats intended to be left empty to distance fans during the COVID-19 pandemic.
But there was extremely high demand for tickets for England’s first major tournament final in 55 years.
Fans could be seen standing in the stadium bowl unable to access their seats before the game and stadium officials confirmed тАЬa small group of people got into the stadiumтАЭ without tickets.
UEFA gave no timetable for the disciplinary cases.
The FA was fined 30,000 euros ($35,000) for fan incidents after the teamтАЩs semifinal at Wembley last week, including booing DenmarkтАЩs anthem.
This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text.
