Southgate ‘surprised’ by fan numbers for behind closed doors game in Hungary – Sport – The Guardian Nigeria News – Nigeria and World News

England manager Gareth Southgate said he was “surprised” that 35,000 fans will be in attendance for Saturday’s Nations League game against Hungary, which is due to take place behind closed doors in Budapest.

Hungary has been ordered by both UEFA and FIFA to play matches without spectators after its fans engaged in racist behavior last year.

But the Hungarian Football Association exploits a loophole in UEFA regulations that allows children to participate. According to the regulations, every 10 children must be accompanied by an adult.

The English Football Association is introducing a similar program for the behind closed doors match against Italy in Molineux next week, but has capped the number at around 3,000 children from local English football-accredited Under-14 teams.

“I think we’re all surprised,” Southgate said of the expected number of Hungarian fans.

“But we invite children to our stadium, so the rules weren’t very clear to me at the beginning. I don’t know what the number should or shouldn’t be.

“Other people have to deal with that. We need to make sure we are consistent in our beliefs, the stance we take as a team, the fact that we agree that this is unacceptable and that it is up to other people to impose sanctions.

“As soon as we impose sanctions, it’s gone too far anyway. The key is education. Hopefully the young people in the stadium will pick up on that message tomorrow.”

Hungary was also sanctioned by FIFA after its fans racially abused English players during a World Cup qualifier at the Puskas Arena last September.

“We have to deal with everything that comes our way. We have made clear where we stand on inclusivity and our feelings on racism and its unacceptance,” Southgate said.

England’s stadium ban, which also came with a suspended second game, was imposed following the behavior of fans ahead of their Euro 2020 final defeat by Italy at Wembley.

Southgate announced on Friday that Manchester City midfielder Phil Foden has been suspended from games against Hungary and Germany after testing positive for Covid-19.

Foden has left the squad’s training center but Southgate said he could return to Italy and Hungary for home games on June 11 and 14.

“Phil Foden tested positive for Covid so he had to go,” Southgate said.

“Hopefully he can meet up when we come back from Germany. It depends on his symptoms and breathing. It affects everyone differently.”

Defenders Fikayo Tomori and Marc Guehi are injured and will not be available against Hungary, while Raheem Sterling has undoubtedly missed some training sessions.