Denise van Outen defends 'strict' Wembley Stadium rules
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The Metropolitan Police Federation is a staff association to which every constable, sergeant, inspector and chief inspector in the Met belongs – a total of more than 30,000 officers. The FA, Wembley security staff, and the police have been criticised for their handling of the situation on Sunday night. A huge number of supporters were filmed appearing to force their way into England’s Wembley Stadium to watch the team’s first major final since 1966.
And earlier today the chairman of the Met Police Federation, Ken Marsh, blamed the FA, who he claims chose private security firms over the police to keep control of the situation.
Mr Marsh also claimed stadium security did not inform the police quickly enough about the escalating troubles.
He added that fans without tickets should not have been allowed to “float around” the ground before the game.
Mr Marsh told BBC Radio 4: “Wembley is a private premises. We do not police private premises.
“We used to police within Premiership games at Wembley etc, and they had to start paying for it.
“They didn’t want to pay the money that was required, so they brought in private security companies.
“When you take the game that took place on Sunday, by the time we had it brought to our attention that several thousand people were trying to force their way in it was too late for us, because we were the wrong side of them and unable to repel them from doing so.
“We had flagged this up previously because there were far too many people within the area of Wembley for an 8pm kick off. There were tens of thousands floating about, it was unprecedented numbers.
“By the time it was brought to our attention then it was too late.”
An investigation is still ongoing with the reported number of spectators that breached the ground’s security being estimated at around 5,000.
However, that figure could easily increase once the investigation is complete, according to reports.
Some people have also claimed that people were pouring into the stadium during the game, despite the initial statement saying that there had only been one incident.
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Met’s Commissioner Dame Cressida Dick has backed her officers and said that she was “very proud” of the force.
She added: “There will be a full debrief, of course, there’s an awful lot of inaccurate speculation about what happened at the moment.
“I’m very proud of my officers and the command team.”
The Mayor of London Sadiq Khan also backed the force.
Mr Khan said: “’It was not right what happened on Sunday, not just at Wembley, but across our city, with the hooligans from outside London breaking the law in Leicester Square, Liverpool Street, Trafalgar Square, Wembley and so forth.
“The FA are reviewing their arrangements at Wembley, the Met Police Service will take part in that review.”
He added: “What’s also really important, that I say loudly and clearly: the police have my full confidence and full support.”
Express.co.uk has contacted the FA and Wembley Stadium for comment.
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