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No England fans arrested at World Cup for first time ever - but hundreds were back home
Police have confirmed that no British nationals were arrested for the first World Cup tournament ever after England were knocked out by France in the quarter-finals
Not a single England fan has been arrested at the World Cup for the first time in history, police have revealed.
Police chiefs described the behaviour of Three Lions' supporters who jetted to Qatar to cheer on Gareth Southgate's stars as 'absolutely exemplary'. Neither they - nor fans of neighbours Wales - had been involved in a single criminal incident.
Cheshire Chief Constable Mark Roberts, head of the UK Football Policing Unit, said it was the first time there had been zero Brit arrests in the 92-year history of the tournament
He gave his report after England's 2-1 quarter-final defeat by France on Saturday. Wales went out after the group stage.
Around 3,000 fans from each home nation travelled out for the three group matches. About 3,500 Three Lions' supporters flew out for the knockout stages including a 3-0 win over Senegal in the last 16.
The good behaviour followed the drink and drug-fuelled shame of the delayed Euro 2020 final last summer when supporters stormed the Wembley turnstiles to break into the stadium.
Mr Roberts believes the strict laws on alcohol sales in the Gulf state contributed to the lack of trouble. Plans to sell beer at stadia were blocked by the organising committee just two days before the tournament began.
Mr Roberts said: "The behaviour of England and Wales out in Qatar was absolutely exemplary. Throughout the home nations involvement in the tournament there were no arrests or incidents to report, which is a credit to all those who travelled.
"In Russia 2018 there were three arrests. But obviously having two teams in this tournament we played double the group stage games, including a home nations derby, which underlines the good nature of our fans.
"The atmosphere at all the home nations' games was passionate but friendly and it would be fantastic to see this replicated at matches back home throughout the rest of the season.
"Traditionally we do have few arrests of our fans at World Cups. But to have zero isn't something we have seen before. It would be wrong to entirely attribute this excellent behaviour to the restrictions on alcohol in Qatar but I do think it has helped to some degree."
Police said back in Britain there had been 531 football-related incidents since the World Cup kicked off.
Of those 150 took place on the evening of the England-France match. They resulted in 115 football-related arrests a high proportion of which are linked to incidents at licensed premises; which police said 'tends to emphasise the impact of alcohol'.
By the same stage of the Russia World Cup there had been 225 arrests in the UK.
Mr Roberts said: "It has also been encouraging to see a reduction in the number of arrests in the UK throughout this World Cup so far.
"Unfortunately we have still seen a number of unsavoury incidents involving people watching football. As we move into the last week of the tournament I would encourage everyone planning on watching the matches to behave responsibly."
Daily Star Sunday
Police have confirmed that no British nationals were arrested for the first World Cup tournament ever after England were knocked out by France in the quarter-finals
Not a single England fan has been arrested at the World Cup for the first time in history, police have revealed.
Police chiefs described the behaviour of Three Lions' supporters who jetted to Qatar to cheer on Gareth Southgate's stars as 'absolutely exemplary'. Neither they - nor fans of neighbours Wales - had been involved in a single criminal incident.
Cheshire Chief Constable Mark Roberts, head of the UK Football Policing Unit, said it was the first time there had been zero Brit arrests in the 92-year history of the tournament
He gave his report after England's 2-1 quarter-final defeat by France on Saturday. Wales went out after the group stage.
Around 3,000 fans from each home nation travelled out for the three group matches. About 3,500 Three Lions' supporters flew out for the knockout stages including a 3-0 win over Senegal in the last 16.
The good behaviour followed the drink and drug-fuelled shame of the delayed Euro 2020 final last summer when supporters stormed the Wembley turnstiles to break into the stadium.
Mr Roberts believes the strict laws on alcohol sales in the Gulf state contributed to the lack of trouble. Plans to sell beer at stadia were blocked by the organising committee just two days before the tournament began.
Mr Roberts said: "The behaviour of England and Wales out in Qatar was absolutely exemplary. Throughout the home nations involvement in the tournament there were no arrests or incidents to report, which is a credit to all those who travelled.
"In Russia 2018 there were three arrests. But obviously having two teams in this tournament we played double the group stage games, including a home nations derby, which underlines the good nature of our fans.
"The atmosphere at all the home nations' games was passionate but friendly and it would be fantastic to see this replicated at matches back home throughout the rest of the season.
"Traditionally we do have few arrests of our fans at World Cups. But to have zero isn't something we have seen before. It would be wrong to entirely attribute this excellent behaviour to the restrictions on alcohol in Qatar but I do think it has helped to some degree."
Police said back in Britain there had been 531 football-related incidents since the World Cup kicked off.
Of those 150 took place on the evening of the England-France match. They resulted in 115 football-related arrests a high proportion of which are linked to incidents at licensed premises; which police said 'tends to emphasise the impact of alcohol'.
By the same stage of the Russia World Cup there had been 225 arrests in the UK.
Mr Roberts said: "It has also been encouraging to see a reduction in the number of arrests in the UK throughout this World Cup so far.
"Unfortunately we have still seen a number of unsavoury incidents involving people watching football. As we move into the last week of the tournament I would encourage everyone planning on watching the matches to behave responsibly."
Daily Star Sunday