FA launches investigation in Wembley chaos at Euro 2020 final

The Football Association has commissioned an independent review to investigate the trouble which marred England’s Euro 2020 final defeat by Italy.

The Football Association has announced it informed the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) of the review over the weekend and vowed to identify those responsible for the “disgraceful scenes” both before and during the match.

An FA statement read: “We are determined to fully understand what happened outside and then inside Wembley Stadium at the UEFA EURO 2020 Final on Sunday 11 July 2021.

“We informed DCMS at the weekend that an independent review led by Baroness Casey of Blackstock has been commissioned to report on the facts and circumstances involved. It will speak to all parties concerned and include external experts.”

The statement continued: “A key emphasis of the findings will be to ensure that lessons are learned and such disgraceful scenes are never able to be repeated.

“We continue to work with the relevant authorities in support of their efforts to identify those responsible and hold them to account.”

Troubled flared before the game as dozens of people forced their way into the stadium, while there were ugly scenes in the stands during the game too.

Police have since released CCTV images of some of those they want to question.

Gareth Southgate’s men ultimately lost the final 3-2 on penalties after extra-time had failed to separate the sides, with Leonardo Bonucci having cancelled out Luke Shaw’s early opener.

Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka, who had missed from the spot, were later racially abused on social media platforms.

The behaviour of both those who forced their way into Wembley and the online trolls has been widely condemned and cast a pall over hopes for the success of a proposed joint bid by the United Kingdom and Ireland to host the 2030 World Cup finals.