England‘s Nations League away fixture against Croatia is set to take place behind closed doors, as the host nation serves a two-game punishment stemming from crowd trouble last year.
Croatia was hit with a substantial fine and ordered to play their subsequent home game behind closed doors, alongside their next away match without travelling fans. These sanctions followed incidents during their Nations League quarter-final against France last year.
Following the Nations League draw in Brussels, which confirmed England’s Group A3 fixtures against Croatia, Czech Republic and Spain, the Croatian Football Federation previously verified that the ban on supporters would apply to the England match on Saturday 3 October.
The federation said: “It should be noted that due to the inappropriate behavior of some Croatian fans in the quarter-final matches of last year’s edition of the Nations League against France, Croatia will play its first away game, i.e. the one against the Czech Republic on September 26, without the presence of Croatian fans, and play its first home game without an audience, i.e. the one against England on October 3.”
Although Three Lions fans were previously barred from attending the match, England have since been allowed to distribute 100 complimentary tickets to fans.
Furthermore, as reported by the BBC, 3,000-6,000 Croatian pupils will also be allowed to watch the game at Stadion HNK Riejka.
England will travel to Croatia for a Nations League match (Pool via REUTERS)
In October 2018, supporters were prohibited from travelling to a Nations League match in Rijeka due to similar sanctions against the hosts, though hundreds still made the journey, attempting to watch from a hill overlooking the stadium.
England commenced their Nations League campaign at home against Spain on Saturday 26 September, with La Roja securing a 3-2 victory following goals from Lamine Yamal, Álex Baena and Mikel Oyarzabal.
Meanwhile, the Three Lions beat Czechia 2-0 on 29 September after Anthony Gordon and Harry Kane scored in the 47th and 69th minutes, respectively.
After playing Croatia on Saturday at 17:00, England will return home to face the Czechs once again on Tuesday 6 October.
The Three Lions will then host Croatia on 12 November, before concluding the group stage away to Spain on 15 November.
The knockout stages of the Nations League are set to take place next year.
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