English football fans are gathered at the Amsterdam red-light district prior to the friendly football match between the Netherlands and England in Amsterdam on March 23, 2018. / AFP PHOTO / ANP / Niels Wenstedt / Netherlands OUT
Amsterdam police said on Friday they had arrested almost 100 England football supporters ahead of a friendly international against the Netherlands, with videos posted online showing crowds packing the narrow streets and bridges in the canal city, singing and cheering.
“The number of arrests of England supporters has now climbed to close to 90,” the Amsterdam police said in a tweet.
The men were mainly accused of disrupting public order, the police said.
One video on the Dutch public broadcaster NOS showed police wielding truncheons, and backed by horseback officers, wading into the crowds to restore order in the city’s notorious Red Light district.
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In another video, fans were seen tossing a bike off a bridge onto a passing canal boat.
The match is being used by England as part of their World Cup build-up, a tournament for which the Dutch failed to qualify.
England won 1-0, Manchester United’s Jesse Lingard scoring the decisive goal.
Gareth Southgate, the England manager, had urged fans to conduct themselves in a sporting manner but his words were ignored by some of the more than 5,000 away supporters inside the ground, who jeered the Dutch national anthem before kick-off instead.
“I heard some of the booing of the anthem which obviously isn’t acceptable,” Southgate told a post-match press conference shortly after being informed of the trouble in Amsterdam.
“The rest, that’s the first I’ve heard just outside before,” said Southgate.
“Without knowing the details… obviously it’s not something I want to hear because most of all for us I think our players have represented their country really well tonight with pride and with some style.
“So, anything else that takes away from that performance for them would be a great shame.”
Source: G Sport
