A World Cup first: No English football fans arrested

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
15 Dec 2022 16:16

British Police have officially verified that no nationals were detained during the inaugural World Cup in Qatar.

Travelling England supporters have been praised for their behavior at the World Cup finals (Reuters)

The UK's football policing chief reports that there were no arrests made among England or Wales World Cup fans.

The head of the UK Football Policing Unit, Cheshire Chief Constable Mark Roberts, lauded the Three Lions supporters' conduct in Qatar. He thinks it's the first time ever that no Brits have been detained during the competition. Also, no Wales supporters were apprehended.

Following England's elimination in the thrilling 2-1 quarterfinal loss to France on Saturday, Roberts delivered his report. For each of the three group games in Qatar, there were 3,000 spectators from the home country, and 3,500 fans traveled to the knockout rounds for England games, including the 3-0 victory over Senegal in the last 16.

The exemplary behavior comes after the shameful, postponed Euro 2020 final last summer that was fueled by drugs and alcohol. Roberts thinks that there were no arrests because of the Gulf State's stringent regulations on the sale of alcohol. Just two days before the competition started, the organizing committee decided to stop selling beer at the sites.

Roberts further added that “the behavior of England and Wales out in Qatar was absolutely exemplary”.

"In Russia 2018 there were three arrests. But obviously having two teams in this tournament we played double the group stage games, including a home nations derby, which underlines the good nature of our fans,” he added.

Since the start of the World Cup, there have been 531 football-related incidents in the UK, 150 of which happened on the night of the England v. France match.