There will no doubt be many different reactions to the England soccer team’s qualification for the European championships in Portugal next year, but an estimated 50,000 fans are now likely to travel to watch the games next summer.
While England fans were barred from travelling to Istanbul, where the team drew with Turkey to guarantee a place in the finals, there will be no such restriction in place for the games in Portugal – except for those 1,800 fans who have been banned from travelling to away matches because of previous records of football-related violence.
The Daily Telegraph today suggests that the expected 50,000 fans will join some 200,000 other Britons holidaymakers in Portugal. Police in the UK and Portugal are already working on identifying troublemakers, according to David Swift, the officer in charge of the operation against football-related violence.
He reportedly told The Daily Telegraph: “We are now entering a different regime, where our clear intention – and the Government’s intention – is to maximise the number of proven troublemakers who will be prevented from leaving the country.”
