UEFA fine the FA £26,000 after fan shines laser in Kasper Schmeichel's face during England win

  /  autty

UEFA have fined the FA £26,000 after a fan shone a laser pen in Denmark goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel's face during England's Euro 2020 semi-final win at Wembley.

The incident occurred before Harry Kane saw his penalty saved by the Leicester City keeper, only for the England captain to tuck home the winner in the first half of extra time in their 2-1 victory against the Danes.

The fine also relates to Three Lions supporters booing during Denmark's national anthem and setting off fireworks inside the stadium in Wednesday night's match, which was attended by more than 60,000 fans.

The FA was charged with the three offences after the Three Lions' win, but sanctions have now followed from UEFA's control ethics and disciplinary body.

A statement from UEFA read: 'The CEDB has decided to fine the English Football Association 30,000 euros for the use of laser pointer, disturbances during the national anthems and setting off of fireworks.'

England have been fined £4,300 before for supporters disrupting another side's national anthem. Three Lions fans have also controversially booed the taking of the knee at times before and throughout the current competition, which ends when they face Italy in the final on Sunday.

But the most serious incident involves the laser pen, which saw a green beam flickered across Schmeichel's head as England captain Kane was lining up to take his spot kick won by Raheem Sterling.

Schmeichel revealed he told the referee about the laser before the penalty: 'I did not experience it on the penalty kick because it was behind me on my right side. But I did experience it in the second half.

'I told the referee. And he went to say something to the other officials.'

Former England striker Stan Collymore has led calls for the fan responsible to be banned for life.

Wembley security will therefore be stepped up for the final, with the number of on-duty stewards to be increased to crack down on prohibited items as well as fans trying to enter without a ticket.

Ex-England striker Gary Lineker has also urged Three Lions fans attending Sunday's final not to boo the Italian national anthem, describing such behaviour as  'rude, disrespectful and utterly classless'.

But former England assistant manager - and Sky Sports and ITV pundit - Gary Neville disagreed with Lineker, questioning whether it really is as disrespectful as Lineker intimated.

The fine however appears to show UEFA stepping up punishments after years of weak disciplinary measures.

The most notable example is the criticism they came in for when they fined Bulgaria just £65,000 and ordered them to play only one game behind closed doors after England's players were racially abused in a game in 2019.

But UEFA now appear to be taking a tougher stance, having also this week ordered Hungary to play their next two European qualifiers behind closed doors following homophobic and racist behaviour by supporters at all three of the their Euro 2020 group games.

Hungary fans were seen in black shirts marching against players taking the knee, while other supporters waved homophobic banners at the Puskas Arena during the early weeks of the tournament.

UEFA branded their behaviour 'discriminatory', and under the terms of the punishment, Hungary will play two games behind closed doors with a third match suspended for two years, which is dependent on how crowds behave when they return.

The Hungarian Football Federation have also been fined £85,000 (€100,000) and ordered to display a banner with the slogan '#EqualGame' in both of what will be Nations League matches without supporters.

Related: Kane
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