Many Brits would have liked to watch the European Championship final in the stadium, but couldn’t get hold of any more tickets. So is a teenager – but who still found a way into the arena. Uefa has to put up with questions.
Despite the solid performance of the English team, the final of the European Football Championship was not a highlight for Great Britain. And that had nothing to do with what was happening on the lawn, but with the events around it. The British fans quickly caused displeasure when they booed several times during the anthem of the opposing teams. Hooligans attacked fans of other teams, tried to force their way into Wembley Stadium – and escalated in the most unpleasant way after the English defeat on penalties. There were also racist attacks.
The Uefa, which organized the European Championship tournaments, had to put up with criticism not only for this reason. The question was asked again and again whether games with tens of thousands of spectators should actually take place during the corona pandemic, for which fans also traveled through half of Europe. The soothing answer: both aggressive fans and people who might be infected with the virus should be kept away by strict safety and hygiene measures. A teenager of all people proved that it didn’t really work with either.
The boy found an open door
In a video, the young TikTok star J2hundred showed how he traveled to London for the final. He hoped to get a ticket somewhere, but failed. Even a security guard refused to let him into Wembley for a bribe. With a succinct “I like my job” he sent the boy away. But J2hundred saw a group of other fans who also wanted to see the game and had no tickets. He followed them a little until he noticed a gap in the makeshift security fence. He slipped through.
However, this idea turned out to be a dead end. The teenager turned back and looked for another gap in the fence. He found one – right outside an emergency exit. He could easily sneak through the fence, then through the door. When he arrived at the stadium, J2hundred could hardly believe his luck. Nobody checked him, nobody wanted to see his ticket, nobody a negative corona test. Without hindrance he looked for a place that would otherwise have cost hundreds of euros.
An adventure that Uefa should put to shame
“That was a sign from God, it was our fate to be in the stadium now – the door was just a crack!” He says into his camera. And then, a little worried: “We did something really insane here.” But what was an adventure for the filming teenager is shameful for Uefa and those responsible for England. Because J2hundred could have been anyone else – a terrorist, a violent hooligan. He could have infected other fans with Corona. The much-vaunted safety and hygiene concept – that evening it was obviously not as perfect as the organizers previously claimed.
By the way, the teenager is unlikely to face legal consequences: in order to commit trespassing or forced entry, he would have had to break open, damage or manipulate doors or entrances – but everything was open to him.
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I have been working in the news industry for over 6 years, first as a reporter and now as an editor. I have covered politics extensively, and my work has appeared in major newspapers and online news outlets around the world. In addition to my writing, I also contribute regularly to 24 Hours World.
