THOUSANDS of Hungary fans set off flares and unveiled an anti-kneeling banner in the streets of Budapest ahead of their clash with France.
The two nations will collide at Euro 2020 this afternoon but the home supporters could not wait until they were at the stadium to make their voices heard.
A huge crowd descended on the streets in Budapest to march towards the Puskas Arena.
Those at the front were holding a banner protesting against players taking the knee in the anti-racist gesture at kick-off.
And the hordes behind them were chanting and singing as they walked through a cloud of smoke created by their flares.
It comes after the French squad abandoned plans to ‘take the knee’ before their Euro opener against Germany.
They stated that decision was due to fears that the gesture was ‘dividing more than uniting’.
The World Cup holders, who have a squad stacked full of Premier League stars, had initially planned to go down on one knee before their 1-0 win in Munich.
But fierce arguments from both sides in the media in the build-up to the showdown led to them abandoning them.
Hungarian fans also booed recently when the Republic of Ireland took the knee in a friendly game in Budapest before the tournament.
Meanwhile, Uefa has been sent an official report on a homophobic banner at Tuesday’s Euro 2020 match between Hungary and Portugal.
Anti-discrimination group Fare, which monitors matches for incidents of racism and other forms of discrimination, filed a report to the governing body and have begun discussions with officials.
Several images were shared on social media showing fan banners inside the ground stating ‘Anti-LMBTQ’ – the Hungarian abbreviation for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer.
Cristiano Ronaldo was also allegedly subjected to homophobic abuse during the game.
According to Record, sections of the 55,000-strong sell-out crowd inside the Puskas Arena attacked the five-time Ballon d’Or winner.
The report states there were chants of ‘Cristiano Ronaldo, homosexual’.
Ronaldo was clearly unfazed by the crowd’s claimed attacks.
He responded by scoring twice as Portugal broke the Hungarian resistance with three late goals.
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Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
