England players booed for taking the knee at ‘behind closed doors’ clash with Hungary

 England players were booed from parts of the Puskas Stadium on Saturday when they injured their knee before the Nations League game against Hungary.

The match in Budapest was officially classified as a closed-door game to punish Hungarian fans for their "racist and discriminatory" behaviour at Euro 2020.

However, according to UEFA rules, the Hungarian football federation can invite schoolchildren, accompanied by some adults, to 35,000 spectators in a stadium with a capacity of 67,000.

It is customary for England players to kneel before kick-off in a gesture of solidarity against all forms of racism and discrimination since football resumed from Covid-19 lockdown in 2020, a gesture that was booed by parts of the crowd.

The incident is likely to lead to scrutiny over UEFA’s rules regarding behind-closed-doors games.

England manager Gareth Southgate admitted before the game that he was "surprised" by the number of fans in attendance.