Budapest (AP) – The Hungarian Football Association is probably planning to use its bag of tricks to be able to play the Nations League home game against England on June 4, which is planned as a ghost game, in front of a large audience.
As the BBC and Sky Sports reported, up to 30,000 spectators could come to the Puskás Aréna in Budapest, although the European Football Union (UEFA) had sentenced Hungary to at least two games without an audience at last year’s European Championship due to allegations of racism against fans.
The Hungarian FA is said to be referring to Article 73h of the UEFA Disciplinary Regulations. Accordingly, in closed-door games, children up to the age of 14 can watch the game for free if they are invited and accompanied by an adult. According to information from the BBC, 30,000 children are already registered for Saturday.
When asked, UEFA stated that the article had been in force for a number of years and had already been applied. There are no restrictions on the number of registered children. “This will be coordinated by the host association,” said the umbrella organization.
Hungary and England play alongside Germany and Italy in Nations League Group A3. As the BBC further reported, the English association, which also has to play a ghost home game due to fan riots, is also planning to rely on Article 73h for the game on June 11 against Italy in Wolverhampton. Then there should be about 2000 spectators in the Molineux stadium.