Wembley scenes 'a shaming episode for UK' and 'seals deal' for 2030 World Cup bid

That's the view of Julian Knight MP, chair of the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport [DCMS] select committee, after the Football Association was hit with a stadium ban over the scenes of chaos and disorder surrounding the Euro 2020 final.

England have been ordered to play their next home UEFA competition match behind closed doors as punishment for the ugly scenes at Wembley, and have also been fined €100,000 - around £84,500.

The UK and Ireland's World Cup bid will be discussed with MPs, UK Sport and BBC chiefs on Tuesday, a day after UEFA revealed their punishment for the carnage at Wembley Stadium on July 11.

One of the topics of debate will be to examine whether the reported £2.8m cost to fund a feasibility study - paid for by taxpayers in England, Ireland, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales - is worth it.

According to Knight, the answer is clearly 'no'.

It is believed the ban, even though it is only one match, will cost the FA around £5m in revenue.

The FA responded to the sanction with a statement, saying they are 'disappointed with the verdict'.

But Knight believes the English football chiefs should count themselves lucky the sanction was not more severe, saying there was every chance people could have been killed in the shocking scenes - branding the day 'a shaming episode for our country'.

"I think the FA has, frankly, got away quite lightly with this, because the scenes of disorder were of a magnitude and the lack of handling of the situation with crowd management was such that perhaps a longer ban and more stringent punishment would be due," Knight said in an exclusive interview with talkSPORT host Jim White.

"The seriousness was so great, we were very, very close, I'd say, to loss of life that day. I think this shouldn't be the end of the matter, it should only be the start of the examination of this.

"The committee is going to take a real interest in this, I consider it beholden on us to ensure we don't have a tragedy as we've had in the past."

On whether the number of ticketless fans who forced their way into Wembley for the final, causing fear and chaos within the stadium, Knight said: "I hear all sorts of different numbers, from the hundreds to the many thousands.

"Some of the stories of people I know who contacted me on the day, the fear they had of crush injury, the fact that these ticketless fans had got through the barriers, the complete lack of proper stewarding and also the lack of organisation along Wembley Way… and just the drunkenness.

"It was a shaming episode for our country.

"Frankly, one, ten, 100, 1000, whatever, it's too many. Nobody without a ticket should be getting into stadiums and we need to ensure it doesn't happen again."

And Knight believes the scenes, plus the ban that followed them, ends any faint hopes the UK had of hosting the 2030 World Cup.

"I didn't have hopes for our World Cup bid due to, frankly, our poor standing in the world game in terms of our reputation and our relationships with governing bodies, and this dates right back to the shambles that was the previous World Cup bid," the MP added.

"So I didn't have a great deal of belief that we would carry the day, but I think this seals the deal on that. I think it's the icing on the cake as far as the perceptions of ourselves as having difficulties, having problems.

"One thing that we could always say is we've got great stadiums and we know how to manage big events, well… this sort of shows that maybe is not the case.

"We're going to hear evidence today from some of the top people in UK sport, and I don't wish to pre-judge it.

"Obviously I do have my own opinions, and that is that I would need a lot of convincing that this is £3million of taxpayers' money well spent.

"It garners really good headlines for the Government for a few days and it seems like they're doing something, so to speak, but frankly I don't know anyone within the upper echelons of either the Government or sport who believes this is a real goer.

"So why are we wasting the money? That would be my question."