London Police Make 49 Arrests During Euro 2020 Final
00:26 GMT 12.07.2021 (Updated: 15:14 GMT 28.05.2023)
© REUTERS / HENRY NICHOLLS
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MOSCOW (Sputnik) - London police say 49 people were detained and over a dozen officers were injured on Sunday during the 2020 UEFA European Football Championship final held at London’s Wembley Stadium.
"Our policing operation for the #Euro2020 final is drawing to a close. Thank you to the tens of thousands of fans who had good spirits and behaved responsibly. We made 49 arrests during the day for a variety of offences. We will have officers on hand throughout the night," the Metropolitan police said on Twitter.
In an earlier post, police said that 45 arrests had been made.
Italy beat England 3:2 on penalties on Sunday, following the 1:1 draw after extra time at Wembley. The final was the tournament's most attended match with 67,173 fans present at the game.
Nail-biting night, commiserations #England.
— Metropolitan Police Events (@MetPoliceEvents) July 11, 2021
Thousands are now leaving #Wembley Stadium or making their journeys home from London, our policing operation continues. Please be patient and listen out for announcements from @TfL @nationalrailenq at stations#ENG | #ITA | #Euro2020
"Frustratingly, 19 of our officers were injured while they confronted volatile crowds. This is wholly unacceptable," the metropolitan police added, saying in another post that it was also going to investigate " a number of offensive and racist social media comments being directed towards footballers following the #Euro2020 final."
Todays scene in #London and at Wembleypic.twitter.com/QltBltlM4q
— Adam Cohen (@AdamCohen9) July 12, 2021
A Sputnik correspondent reported that disappointed English fans started to burn firecrackers and turn over trash cans after the defeat of their national team, but there were no major disturbances in central London.
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge said on Twitter that the Sunday defeat was "heartbreaking."
Heartbreaking. Congratulations @Azzurri on a great victory.
— The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge (@KensingtonRoyal) July 11, 2021
@England, you’ve all come so far, but sadly this time it wasn’t our day. You can all hold your heads high, and be so proud of yourselves — I know there’s more to come. W
The Azzurri won the Euro 2020 tournament for the second time on Sunday. The first time that the Italian national team won the continental title was in 1968. It played in the finals in 2000 and 2012, but lost to France and Spain, respectively.
The goalkeeper of the Italian national team, Gianluigi Donnarumma, was declared Player of the Tournament after finishing on the winning side of two penalty shootouts – a record in European Championships.
