BORIS Johnson's bid to host the football World Cup in 2030 has been dealt a massive blow by clashes between England fans and the police after last night's Euro 2020 final in London.
Nineteen officers were injured during violent scenes outside the stadium with the Metropolitan Police reporting 49 arrests.
Questions have also been asked about the policing of the game and security after video showed ticketless fans fighting with stewards and pushing through barriers at Wembley before the match.
Riot police broke through crowds outside the stadium when fans left the game, with some throwing bottles and chanting anti-Italian slogans after England lost on penalties.
England fans clash with police officers after the match. Photo Victoria Jones PA
There was trouble too at Trafalgar Square when supporters filed out following the defeat with some swearing, smashing bottles and overturning bins.
The Prime Minister had hoped that England and Ireland could co-host the World Cup in 2020.
But last night veteran reporters from both sides of the Irish Sea seemed sceptical about the chances of FIFA accepting the bid on the back of the trouble.
Henry Winter, chief football writer for The Times, wrote on social media: "Some of the scenes at Wembley and in town will do little to help #ENG #FA 2030 World Cup bid."
Kieran Cunningham, the chief sports writer for the Irish Daily Star, went further, noting on Twitter: "Not a hope 2030 World Cup bid has a chance now. Ireland shouldn't waste a cent on it."
Mike Keegan, sports news correspondent at the Mail online, tweeted: "That was the worst experience I’ve ever had as a fan at a football match.
"Shambolic organization, police nowhere to be seen, fans without tickets running amok within what was a giant Covid breeding ground. Taken 3.5 hours to get out of the godforsaken place. Saw fights bottles thrown, people karate kicking windows and (a new one for me) had to jump out of the way of an armed officer with his gun drawn chasing someone.
"Transport non-existent, roads gridlocked for hours, behaviour of many despicable. Wembley Way a bombsite. Awful, awful night."
On the prospect of England holding the World Cup - or other major football tournaments, he added: "Big questions for @MetPoliceEvents
"From what I could see that was nothing other than a shambles. Be amazed if UEFA or FIFA go anywhere near London for major events in future. Public let down massively."
The Metropolitan Police Federation, which represents thousands of London's police, criticised people who hurt officers after the match.
England fans kick and stand on a litter bin in Piccadilly Circus, London, after Italy beat England on penalties to win the UEFA Euro 2020 Final. Photo Victoria Jones PA.
In response to a tweet from the Met police force, which said 19 officers were injured when they "confronted volatile crowds", the Federation said: "These people should be ashamed of themselves. They are not fans.
"They are thugs. We wish our injured colleagues well."
Among the other incidents:
* Police called to reports of racially aggravated damage of a mural on Copson Street in Withington, Greater Manchester, at around 2.50am.
Chief Superintendent Paul Savill, of GMP's City of Manchester division, said: "This is disgraceful behaviour and will absolutely not be tolerated.
"Greater Manchester prides itself on being made up from a number of diverse communities and hate crime in any form is completely unacceptable and not welcome here in our city.
"GMP takes crimes of this nature very seriously and an investigation has been launched. If anyone has any information that could help us to identify this offender please do not hesitate to speak to police."
* Twitter removes 1,000 racist posts and suspends accounts
In a statement to the PA news agency a spokesperson has said: "The abhorrent racist abuse directed at England players last night has absolutely no place on Twitter.
"In the past 24 hours, through a combination of machine learning based automation and human review, we have swiftly removed over 1,000 Tweets and permanently suspended a number of accounts for violating our rules - the vast majority of which we detected ourselves proactively using technology.
"We will continue to take action when we identify any Tweets or accounts that violate our policies.
"We have proactively engaged and continue to collaborate with our partners across the football community to identify ways to tackle this issue collectively and will continue to play our part in curbing this unacceptable behaviour - both online and offline."
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