Fifa opens disciplinary proceedings after crowd trouble at England-Hungary clash
Hungary fans clashed with police at Wembley on Tuesday night.
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Fifa has opened disciplinary proceedings in relation to the disturbances which marred England’s World Cup qualifier against Hungary on Tuesday night, and the violent scenes at the Albania versus Poland match in the same group.
Hungary fans clashed with police at Wembley after officers entered the stand to arrest an individual for a racially aggravated public order offence in relation to comments directed at a steward.
The Metropolitan Police described what happened as “minor disorder”.
The Albania versus Poland game in Tirana was temporarily suspended. Bottles were thrown on to the pitch after Karol Swiderski scored for Poland in the 77th minute.
Football’s world governing body said in a statement: “Following an analysis of the match reports, Fifa has opened disciplinary proceedings in relation to yesterday’s England v Hungary and Albania v Poland Fifa World Cup qualifier matches.
“Once again, Fifa strongly condemns the incidents at both matches and would like to state that its position remains firm and resolute in rejecting any form of violence as well as any form of discrimination or abuse. FIFA has a very clear zero-tolerance stance against such abhorrent behaviour in football.”
Hungary were ordered to play two matches behind closed doors, one suspended for two years, over the racist behaviour of their fans during the qualifier against England in Budapest last month.
Raheem Sterling and Jude Bellingham were targeted with monkey chants during the match on September 2, which England won 4-0.
In July, European football’s governing body Uefa imposed a two-match stadium ban on the Hungarian federation following an investigation into the behaviour of their supporters during Euro 2020 matches in Budapest and Munich.