England fans at the World Cup: Has Gianni Infantino been fair about fan behavior at past tournaments?

Infantino’s comments were made directly in relation to World Cup appearances.

It is fair to point out that since France 1998, there has only been one World Cup (Germany 2026) that has been easier for English fans to reach.

in 2002 World CupEngland played all five of their matches in Japan.

There was only one arrest for violence or public disorder out of 8,000 supporters who traveled to Asia.

In Germany for World Cup 2006 An estimated 350,000 matches were watched in stadiums and in fan parks. However, only 21 people were arrested for football-related offences.

The most violent scenes of the tournament surrounded the match between Germany and Poland when 429 people were arrested, including 119 from Poland and 278 from the host country.

The next two World Cups were long-distance affairs in Africa and South America.

Recorded figures show that, contrary to Infantino’s claim, no English fan was arrested at the stadium World Cup 2010 In South Africa – an estimated 30,000 people made the trip.

In Brazil for World Cup 2014 Of the 20,000 traveling fans, 15 people were arrested in connection with football, none of whom were arrested for violence. Thirteen of these were for ticket promotion and two were for crimes against property.

the World Cup 2018 It saw the tournament return to Europe in Russia. About 20,000 English fans visited the stadium, and six of them were arrested, four of them for anti-social behavior related to football.

Only about 4,000 supporters made the trip to World Cup 2022 And in Qatar, which, Infantino said, has not seen any arrests of England or Wales fans, who also qualified.

In a total of six tournaments, 55 fans out of 432,000 were arrested, with 28 non-violent crimes committed.

There are no comparative figures available for other countries, but Germany’s only match against Poland in the 2006 tournament equaled eight times England’s total in six World Cups.

Chief Constable Mark Roberts, national lead for football policing, said: “For the record, the behavior of British fans at World Cup finals is the norm, nothing special.

“Although these things may be said in jest, it is not helpful or accurate to make these types of comments.”