Gareth Southgate blames 'inherited thinking' as children boo England players taking the knee before Nations League match
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Updated 05/06/2022 at 07:20 GMT
Hungary were issued with a punishment from UEFA after their fans' behaviour during Euro 2020 matches last year, and had to play their Nations League match against England behind closed doors in Budapest. However, 30,000 fans were permitted to attend as most of them were children, and fans were heard booing England's players when they took a knee before the Three Lions' 1-0 defeat.
'Difficult to understand' - Southgate on Hungary having fans despite UEFA sanctions
England manager Gareth Southgate said that young Hungarian fans were affected by 'inherited thinking' as they appeared to boo players taking the knee.
Southgate’s team were playing their first match of the summer which ended in a 1-0 defeat in Budapest. Before kick-off, the England players took a knee as they have done since the emergence of the Black Lives Matter movement.
Hungary are currently serving a spectator ban as a result of supporters misbehaving during Euro 2020 last year, but rules allow children to attend with some adult supervision.
As a result, 30,000 fans were in the Puskas Arena on Saturday to watch the game. Children under the age of 14 are permitted to attend for free according to UEFA rules, with one adult allowed to attend for every 10 children.
While both anthems proceeded without trouble, there were jeers and boos when England players took a knee, which is not against UEFA’s rules.
Southgate had said on Friday that he was surprised that Hungary would be permitted to allow so many fans into their stadium, however England will also do the same with fewer fans for their next home game as a result of their own punishment from UEFA.
In the post-match press conference, Southgate said: "From a development perspective, I want and need the team to be playing in front of supporters. But of course, that’s not the point in this instance.
"So I’m torn on what we actually got from that and what the reality should have been. I think that needs some consideration without a doubt. In actual fact the atmosphere when we arrived at the stadium, there were kids lining the streets, it was really friendly.
They were waving when we were walking out to warm up. I thought there were sort of pantomime boos when our team came out to warm up.
"That was different with the taking of the knee but that felt like inherited thinking to me. We do it to try to educate and I think young people can only be influenced by older people.
Channel 4 earlier asked Southgate about the incident after the match and he made his feelings clear, saying: "The first thing, that (taking the knee) is why we do it, to try to educate people around the world. I have no idea why people would choose to boo the gesture.
"The young people can't know why they are doing it so they are being influenced by older adults.
"The UEFA decision is for other people to decide. We have made our stand as a team, everyone knows what we believe in and stand for, it is a night where I need to focus on the football."
England defender Conor Coady added: "It's massively disappointing. It's important people understand why are doing it. It's not something we want to hear. We want to keep pushing the message."
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