Recap EUROS 2020

12 July 2021

After quite an eventful tournament, the 2020 EUROS has finally come to an end. One of the many intense moments, include the final where Italy and England went head-to-head in penalties. Factors such as a global pandemic and other controversies has made this one of the most unforgettable tournaments.

At “Show Racism the Red Card” it is our duty to highlight all the incidents surrounding inequality that occur in football, and the EUROS 2020 will not be an exception. LGBTQ+ equality and racism had a massive impact on this tournament.

Budapest, Hungary, was one of the host places for the tournament along with 10 other countries. During the tournament, the country passed a law banning all content concerning the LGBTQ+ community for under-18s. The nation was punished by the UEFA for their behaviour during the EURO 2020 Matches. Over the period of two home games, in the Puskás Aréna, against France and Portugal, investigations were started due to ‘potential discriminatory incidents’.

In the match against Portugal, images of banners appeared among the home supporters that read “Anti LGBTQ+” as well as refusing to kneel in honour of BLM. Therefore, causing the UEFA to hold further investigations against the Hungarian FA. Ultimately leading to a fine of 100,000 Euros for the number of fan infringements. On top of that, the team have been ordered to play their next three home games behind closed doors and to display a banner promoting equality at future matches.

Consequent to the anti-LGBTQ+ behaviour that was shown by the Hungarian fans, it encouraged fans from the other participating countries were encouraged to bring rainbow flags to the stadium as a statement.

During the last game of the group stage for Hungary in Munich against Germany where the mayor of Munich requested the UEFA for the stadium to lit in in rainbow colours as a protest against the anti-LGBT law which was passed. An example of this is the Hungary vs. Germany game held in Munich. The mayor of Munich requested the UEFA for the stadium to be lit in rainbow colours to protest the anti-LGBT law passed in Hungary. Unfortunately the request was denied, but the buildings covering the city of Munich were lit up in the colours of LGBTQ+ flag instead. Manuel Neuer, keeper of Die Mannschaft, was also allowed to wear a rainbow colour captain’s armband to show support.

During the round of 16 there were many exciting matches to look forward to such as Belgium vs Portugal, England vs Germany, France vs Switzerland etc. One of the matches that gathered a lot of attention was the Netherlands vs Czech Republic, which was played in the Puskas Arena, Budapest. Around 10,000 fans were expected and Budapest was slowly turning orange hours before the match. As a supporting message for the LGBTQ+ community, many dutch fans brought rainbow flags to the game. However, before the game started, security guards were ordered to collect all rainbow flags without giving any explanation to the schocked fans. Shortly after, the UEFA came with a statement saying that it is not allowed for fans to make political statements during the tournament. The statement was quickly revoked, allowing Dutch fans to bring the flag into the stadium.

After England’s defeat during yesterdays 2020 EUROS Final, many players received racial abuse on social media. 3 of the 5 penalty takers yesterday missed their penalty from the England team. Rashford, Saka and Sancho all received racial abuse on their social media after missing their penalty in the penalty shoot-out. The 19-year old Bukaya Saka was one of the stars on the England team this tournament, the player received a lot of hate for his missed penalty.

The Prime Minister of England, Boris Johnson has reacted to the racist abuse which the England players received. He has condemned the “appalling” racist abuse and have also ordered to open an investigation.

We would like to thank everyone for making the EUROS 2020 a memorable event, and we are looking forward to the upcoming football season!