Uefa has charged England after a laser pointer was shone in the face of the Denmark goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel as he was about to face Harry Kane’s crucial penalty in Wednesday night’s Euro 2020 semi-final at Wembley.
Schmeichel saved the penalty before Kane scored the rebound to set up England’s 2-1 victory and book a place in Sunday’s final against Italy.
The case will be dealt with by the Uefa Control, Ethics and Disciplinary Body, with England likely to face a fine. In 2008, French side Lyon had to pay $5,000 for “incidents of an unsporting nature” after a fan aimed a laser pen at then-Manchester United player Cristiano Ronaldo during a Champions League match.
The incident was widely condemned, with ITV presenter Mark Pougatch describing the perpetrator as “an idiot”.
“We can just hope that it didn’t put Kasper Schmeichel off, because it’s stupid and he doesn’t deserve that,” he said. “That sort of thing, nobody wants to see.”
England have also been charged with the booing of the Danish anthem and the lighting of fireworks inside the stadium.
Prime minister Boris Johnson’s official spokesman said: “Uefa are looking into that, that’s a matter for them but it’s not something we would want to see.”
Johnson also urged fans not to boo teams during their national anthem. “We don’t want fans to be booing teams. We want fans to be showing support and being respectful,” he said.
England came from behind after Mikkel Damsgaard’s free-kick gave Denmark the lead. Simon Kjær’s own goal levelled for Gareth Southgate’s side and Kane booked England’s first major tournament final for 55 years when he followed up his missed penalty after Raheem Sterling was tripped by Joakim Mæhle.
England now play Italy at Wembley on Sunday aiming to win their first major trophy since lifting the World Cup in 1966.
