Police chiefs pleaded with UEFA to change England’s Friday night kick-off in Prague amid fears there will be alcohol-fuelled crowd trouble.
European football’s governing body declined the request to move the fixture and England fans are now being warned they are “on the radar” and could face arrest and banning orders if they misbehave.
The Football Association have launched their own “Report That Idiot” campaign to encourage supporters to call a hotline to report trouble and avoid a repeat of the shameful scenes in Portugal in June when England fans went on the rampage.
The FA are extremely worried about the scheduling of the game with 3,400 England fans due to travel to Prague which is one of Europe’s best known stag-do venues.
Deputy chief constable Mark Roberts, National Police Chiefs’ Council’s Football Policing Lead, said: “I wrote to UEFA. I think it's unfortunate because you can foresee the risk. We'd much rather prevent a situation developing than try to manage it on the night and regret it afterwards.
“Our problem now is people engaging in anti-social behaviour, drinking too much. The stag do mentality. And we see that when it's locations that are particularly easy to get to – Amsterdam, Dortmund and obviously Prague.
“It's pretty difficult for us to stop. We take banning orders out when people have a record for football violence or we can show they are intent on it.
“I think let’s face it, everyone saw what happened in Portugal and Uefa monitor fan behaviour and monitor teams. Everyone is aware of the situation.”
FA security chief Tony Conniford believes bad behaviour in Prague could have a knock-on effect for Euro 2020 and warned fans they are now “on the radar” for UEFA who refused to switch the fixture after confirming the schedule and also liaising with local police and authorities.
Conniford said: “We have to be aware that the behaviour of our fans is on Uefa’s radar all the time and they will be monitoring what happens over this particular weekend.
“Whether it goes on to effect next summer I don’t know because Uefa have a faith in how police and the stadiums deal with supporters in England. It is a different issue when we travel.”
