After the brave draw against the French, the press was interested not only in the sensational performance of the Hungarian national team. The fans came too, but now negatively. Dutch De Telegraaf claimed the world champions’ forwards, Kylian Mbappe and Karim Benzema, were caught in the crossfire of racist attacks this time around.
The Hungarian national football team played a 1-1 draw against world champions France in an exciting match. At this year’s European Championships, the only couple at the Puskás Arena, the atmosphere was still hectic, and more than 55,000 fans cheered the home team immediately.
Since Tuesday’s match against the Portuguese, the world press has been wondering about the atmosphere at Puskas Stadium. However, already in the first match, the picture was a little different due to the manifestations of homophobia in the Hungarian fans.
The Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf reported, on Sunday, that racist rhymes hit the French stars Kylian Mbappe and Karim Benzema from several angles at the Budapest stadium. Mbappe also complained after the match that he noticed signs of hissing and racism during the match. The father of the 22-year-old international superstar is of Cameroonian origin. Karim Benzema is of Algerian origin.
The paper indicated that UEFA has not formally dealt with the issue yet. However, the European Union later launched an investigation. They mention that Hungary has been punished by the football authorities several times in the past due to the racism of the fans.
The news does not shine a light on Hungary either in the sense that Budapest will be the first chance to host the European Championship final if London does not qualify for the finals due to stricter English entry rules.
Cover Photo: rally via Reuters
