Uefa to review behind closed doors rules after England players booed for taking the knee by Hungary fans

Uefa is expected to discuss tweaking the rules for behind closed doors games that enabled the Hungarian Football Association to invite more than 35,000 spectators to watch the Nations League fixture against England in a game that was supposed to be played without a crowd.

Hungary were forced to play behind closed doors matches as punishment for supporter racism at Euro 2020 but were able to invite tens of thousands of children, with every 10 accompanied by an adult, to the Puskas Arena for the match. It became even more problematic when the crowd booed England’s players for taking the knee before kick-off, a gesture intended to highlight racism and inequality.

England manager Gareth Southgate had expressed his “surprise” that so many fans were in attendance but the Hungarian FA was operating entirely within Uefa’s rules due to a loophole.

Article 73 of the current Uefa regulations, governing “matches to be played behind closed doors”, details the permitted numbers who can attend, from team delegates to VIPs and sponsors to media and stadium workers. Clause ‘h’ states that “children up to the age of 14 (duly accompanied) from schools and/or football academies invited to the match free of charge” but it does not give a maximum number.

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Indeed, the English FA are invoking this clause to allow around 2,000 to 3,000 children to attend the Nations League game against Italy at Molineux Stadium on Saturday, forced to be played behind closed doors due to the chaos at Wembley during the Euro 2020 final last summer.

But after multiple occasions have now resulted in thousands of invited children causing issues, Uefa’s disciplinary committee is expected to re-examine the regulations. The current rules were devised with the best intentions in 2019 but it is likely a limit will be placed on the number of under 14s plus guardians who can attend.

Last year, Sparta Prague had around 10,000 under 14s in attendance at a behind closed doors Europa League match against Rangers. A stadium ban was enforced as punishment for previous racist chanting, but the crowd proceeded to repeatedly boo Glen Kamara and held banners supporting Ondrej Kudela, the Slavia Prague defender who had been banned by Uefa for 10 games for racially abusing the Rangers midfielder.

The regulations for the 2022-23 season have already been signed off so it will be around a year before the new rules come into place. Changes to the rulebook must first be agreed by the disciplinary committee before being ratified by Uefa’s Executive Committee.

While no official figure was recorded, the number in attendance at the 67,000-seater Puskas Arena was not far off the average Premier League attendance last season.

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It prompted calls for Uefa to enforce the rules more appropriately. “When a closed door sanction has been issued it should be fully applied,” European anti-discrimination group Fare said after the game. “This is not the first time in which children have shown the same behaviour patterns as adults in a stadium. We have seen incidents of racism perpetrated in European games by children.”

Show Racism the Red Card chief executive Ged Grebby said: “Show Racism the Red Card was disappointed to hear booing by Hungary supporters to the taking of the knee by England players.

“Given the racism suffered by England’s black players last time, you would have hoped the Hungary fans would have applauded this anti-racist stance.”

However, while booing antiracism gestures is clearly unacceptable football’s governing bodies are mindful not to punish booing.

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