MPS 'regrets not doing more' to prevent Euro 2020 disorder

The independent review concluded there were a series of crowd “near misses” which “could have led to significant injuries or even death”. In what Baroness Casey described as “a source of national shame”, around 2,000 people without tickets managed to get into the London stadium as England took on Italy.

The report, commissioned by the Football Association (FA) and published on Friday (December 3), said policing at the game “did not sufficiently mitigate the risk of ticketless fans, with officers deployed too late in the day”.

Much of what unfolded was “foreseeable” and there was a “collective failure to plan for the worst case scenario”, the review said.

Responding to the findings, Commander Rachel Williams said: “We welcome the praise by Baroness Casey on the bravery of officers in directly confronting scenes of disorder. Her comments set out the unprecedented pressure officers faced, they are a credit to policing.

“Throughout the course of the day, this moment of national significance was tarnished by groups of ticketless, anti-social and thuggish football fans who were intent on causing disorder and committing criminal acts. We regret that we were not able to do more to prevent those scenes unfolding.

“We vow to work with the FA and others to learn from what went wrong and ensure those shocking scenes of thuggery are not repeated.

“Across the Met, we will review Baroness Casey’s report in great detail and take on board her recommendations.”