Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has shown his understanding to Hungarian football fans who chanted at the kneeling Irish team ahead of the European Championship friendly in Budapest.
“If you are a guest in a country, do not provoke the natives,” the right-wing politician told a news conference in Budapest on Thursday. The Irish gesture was a “harsh provocation.”
Group opponents of Germany Hungary They drew 0-0 with Ireland in a friendly. Irish players kneel before kick-off to protest against racism. Then they shouted at the fans at home.
As a football lover, Orban, who decides for himself all the important issues in Hungary, continued: “I do not sympathize with this knee-jerk reaction. Such things do not involve sports.” The Hungarian kneels before God and his motherland, when he asks for the hand of his beloved. In any other case, it would be alien to the culture.
Budapest is the venue for three preliminary round games and one round 16 at the European Football Championship. The teams from Hungary, Portugal and France will play in the preliminary round at the Puskas Arena in front of the full ranks.
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