Boris Johnson’s crime minister has advised Scotland fans who travelled to London for the England match to go home.
Kit Malthouse said it was “not too late” for members of the Tartan Army to get a train back this afternoon - hours before the 8pm kick off.
Although Scotland fans have been allocated a small number of tickets for tonight’s crunch Euros fixture at Wembley, thousands of fans are expected to make the journey to London to watch the match.
However, with no fan zone in place, concerns have been raised about where the Scotland fans will watch the showdown and the effect on social distancing.
Asked on talkRADIO about the thousands of Scottish fans in London, Malthouse, the UK Government’s crime and policing minister, said: “It is, I am afraid, unfortunate that so many came despite encouraging them not to, and I know that the Met Police put a dispersal order in in central London to make sure that people weren’t crowding into the centre.”
He added: “I hope that they do obey that, they disperse and find somewhere socially distanced to watch the match, or indeed it’s not too late for them to get a ticket home of course, and get on the train this afternoon if they’ve got nowhere.”
Malthouse’s comments followed a plea by London Mayor Sadiq Khan for Scotland fans not to travel to London.
He said recently: “It is absolutely fantastic that Scotland are playing in their first international tournament for 23 years and I cannot wait for Friday’s match.
“Scottish fans are renowned around the world for bringing a party atmosphere with them to the big tournaments but with Covid restrictions still in place on both sides of the border, the best thing for fans without tickets to the game or a safe place to watch it is to enjoy the game from Scotland and not come to London.”
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