The English Football Association have confirmed a number of fans tried to storm Wembley Stadium in the build-up to Sunday’s Euro 2020 final between Italy and England.
Videos circulated on social media of groups of supporters appearing to breach the outer perimeter barriers around Wembley around two hours before kick-off.
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One video showed a cluster running towards the main reception but the FA insisted no supporters entered the arena without the appropriate documentation.
A Wembley Spokesperson told ESPN: “We are dealing with an incident that occurred at the outer security perimeter area of the stadium, with support from police. Safety measures were quickly activated in the relevant areas and there were no security breaches of people without tickets getting inside the stadium.”
Thousands of fans gathered on Wembley Way at least eight hours before the 8 p.m. BST (3 p.m. ET) start in scenes replicated throughout London.
There were reports of queues forming outside pubs as early as 6 a.m. BST (1 a.m. ET) while many of the city’s tourist areas including Leicester Square were filled with supporters all day.
Wembley will hold a maximum of 65,000 people for Sunday’s final with a television audience in England expected to surpass 30 million — more than half of the country’s population.