England's UEFA Nations League clash with Hungary in Budapest got off to an ugly start on Saturday evening, as the English players were booed for taking the knee by a crowd comprising entirely of children.
UEFA had originally ordered Hungary to play the game behind closed doors, as a result of repeated racist abuse by their fans. One of those incidents happened in a World Cup qualifier in Budapest against England last September.
However, exploiting a loophole in the UEFA regulations, Hungary invited over 30,000 fans under the age of 14 to take up complimentary tickets for the game, allowing them to have some sort of crowd in the Puskas Arena in Budapest.
Despite the youth of the crowd, the England team were met with a chorus of boos when they took the knee ahead of kick-off to continue to support the movement against racism.
England players booed for taking knee in Budapest
Shocking footage from inside the stadium ahead of Hungary's home clash with England saw the home crowd booing the English players for taking the knee.
Hungary forced to play game behind closed doors due to fan racism, let in 30,000+ under 14s, who boo England players taking the knee pic.twitter.com/jt652RE310
— Sam Cunningham (@samcunningham) June 4, 2022
The footage was particularly shocking due to the youth of the crowd, with the only non-media spectators in the stadium being fans under the age of 14 who were invited to attend with complimentary tickets.
This game was meant to be played behind closed doors due to racist abuse by the Hungarian fans at EURO 2020 and at last year's World Cup qualifier against England, making the reception of a peaceful gesture against racism all the more upsetting.
Regrettably, it does not come as a surprise. Just last year, Stephen Kenny's Ireland team received a similar reception to England, when they played Hungary in a friendly in Budapest.
We'd imagine UEFA will examine the loopholes in their regulations, after the disappointing scenes in Budapest.
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