England fans were caught on camera crashing toy planes in Germany
This is the disturbing moment Three Lions fans broke out into a xenophobic chant on the eve of England’s Euro 2024 opener against Serbia in Germany.
Footage shows supporters ’10 German bombers’ in the streets of Dusseldorf on Friday and Saturday night despite warnings by police.
‘Do not be a d**k!’ pleaded Peter Both, the local chief of police in Gelsenkirchen, to the thousands of fans expected to descend on the western city today.
Members of the crowd – jumping around with beer cans and a St George’s Cross flag – defied the appeal, singing the song that mocks German casualties in World War Two.
One video showed a man on the top of another’s shoulders holding a toy plane, pretending to crash it
One video showed a man on the top of another’s shoulders holding a toy plane, pretending to crash it, as he shouting the words.
Chanting about the RAF picking off German bombers to rile players and fans is not a criminal offence in the country, but there have been fears it could escalate into violence.
It has regularly been heard at England matches, including their recent warm-up over Bosnia and Herzegovina on Monday night at St James’ Park.
As many as 500,000 England fans are expected to travel to Germany for the Euro 2024 this summer.
There has been much debate whether the song is xenophobic or just distasteful, and if it should be banned at football tournaments.
Miguel Berger, the German ambassador to the UK, told LBC that fans should not ‘go and insult the host country’.
He stressed that it is a ‘basic issue’ and a ‘question of respect’, adding: ‘If you go to a certain country and want to enjoy yourself as a football fan, don’t go and insult the host country.’
When asked whether German police have suggested there might be a problem with security for England’s opening game with he said the issues arose from the other side.
He said: ‘We have had excellent cooperation with English and Scottish police ahead of these matches.
‘There are some more high risk games like England v Serbia, because we might expect some more difficult fans from Serbia, but with police cooperation we think we have done what we can to avoid pictures we don’t want to see.’
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