Top police chief warns fans to ‘be sensible’ in Mexico as they will be ‘massively outnumbered’ in England World Cup clash
England’s top football police chief has warned England fans to be careful as they will be “very outnumbered” in Mexico.
England’s World Cup last 16 match against Mexico will be played in the early hours of Monday morning and has already caused tension in Mexico City.
More than 100 riot police wearing bullet-proof vests are guarding the hotel where the England team are staying after they received a hostile reception on arrival, with boos and jeers from the crowds.
Thousands of people are expected to flock to the historic Azteca stadium for the clash.
Chief constable Mark Roberts, leader of the UK Football Policing Unit (UKFPU), told ITV News: “It’s a huge city, a busy city. People are very passionate about football and unfortunately we had an incident just across the road where people died in love, so people need to be sensitive.”
Four fans died after Mexico’s victory against Ecuador earlier in the week.
“I think they’re generally 80 per cent supporting England in stadiums so far… Officially we think there will be three to four thousand English fans. There’s always more, but it won’t be like what we’ve seen in America. We’ll be vastly outnumbered.”
He added: “I think overall Mexicans are pretty good-natured towards the UK, which is positive, but people need to be sensitive. We all know things can happen in a crowd.”
Roberts said there had been “a lot” of online abuse directed at the England team during the World Cup.
“This is very, very sad,” he said. “There are currently ongoing investigations and we will do absolutely everything we can to ensure the individuals involved in this incident are identified.
“They will not be anonymous and I hope we see them walking up the steps of the court ashamed of the terrible things they have posted online.”
FIFA decided to bring the game forward due to weather concerns and announced that the game would go ahead at 1am (BST) on Monday as originally planned.
Pubs across Britain were given special permission to extend their opening hours for the match until 5am, and schools across the country said they would allow pupils to open late on Monday so they could watch the game.
The move sparked criticism from police leaders and emergency services, who expressed concerns about the strain on resources and an expected increase in violence.
“The combination of extended drinking hours and very hot weather has the potential to put additional pressure on NHS emergency services due to alcohol-related incidents, injuries, dehydration and other preventable health problems,” said Anna Parry, chief executive of the ambulance association for senior managers.
“Ambulance services are prepared and will monitor demand closely, but we ask people to celebrate responsibly, look out for friends and family, stay hydrated and only use 999 in genuine emergencies.”
