Mayor of London Sadiq Khan has been branded a “killjoy” for not arranging a fan zone or any big screens for Londoners to watch England take on the Netherlands in the Euro 2024 semi-finals on Wednesday.
Two fan parks were set up in the capital for the last Euros tournament when some of the games – including the final where England lost out to Italy – were held in London.
Sir Iain Duncan Smith, recently re-elected as Conservative MP for Chingford and Woodford Green, said the mayor needed to be “more generous” with England in the semi-finals and with a chance to make history.
The former Conservative Party leader said: “Other cities have big screens for events like this which bring the community together. The mayor is being a killjoy.”
A spokesman for the Mayor of London said: “Official fan zones are only created when London is a host city for the tournament. The Greater London Authority is exploring the possibility of a screening of the final.”
It comes as up to 40,000 fans are expected to travel to Dortmund for the clash with the Netherlands, with England one game from the final.
Flights to Germany that would get fans to the game are still on sale, but at a price.
Seats on the plane are going for more than £800, while tickets were being offered for up to £17,000, leaving many fans who get there having to settle on a seat at one of the German fan parks.
Around 80,000 England fans could gather in Dortmund for the game, with around the same number expected to make the short trip from the Netherlands.
That compares to around just 5,000 who dashed out to Russia for the 2018 World Cup semi-final where high prices, long distances and visas stopped many people travelling.
England lost that game 2-1 to Croatia in extra-time.
