England & Wales Fans Make It Through The World Cup With Zero Arrests For The First Time Ever
15 Dec 2022
While the 2022 World Cup has not been quite the PR exercise that Qatar envisioned, fans of England and Wales have certainly have left the Arab state bolstering their international reputation.
Not one single England or Wales fan was arrested in Qatar during the World Cup, an achievement that has never been seen before.
Viewed normally as trouble makers approximately 4,000 England fans and 3,000 Wales fans made the trip to Qatar, with their behaviour described as “absolutely exemplary”.
Chief Constable Mark Roberts of Cheshire Police has said it’s the first time that no fans from the UK were arrested at a World Cup.
“Throughout the home nations’ involvement in the tournament there were no arrests or incidents to report, which is a credit to all those who travelled”, Roberts said.
“In Russia 2018 there were three arrests, but obviously having two teams in this tournament we played double the group-stage games, including a home nations derby, which underlines the good nature of our fans,”
“I would also like to praise all the UK officers who traveled out to Qatar for the work they have done in helping to keep British nationals safe during the past four weeks,”
“Traditionally we do have few arrests of our fans at World Cups, but to have zero isn’t something we have seen before.”
Many have attributed the improved conduct to the ban on alcohol at stadiums during the World Cup.
“It would be wrong to entirely attribute this excellent behaviour to the restrictions on alcohol in Qatar, but I do think it has helped to some degree,” Roberts said.