FA apologises to England players' families and sponsors after fans invaded Wembley hospitality areas

The Football Association has apologised to its commercial sponsors for the chaos at Wembley Stadium at this month’s Euro 2020 final amid suggestions that marauding ticketless fans who broke through security cordons managed to get as far as the hospitality suites, Telegraph Sport can reveal.

In addition, the governing body, which this week announced an independent review into the shambolic scenes at the stadium, has written to the families and friends of the England players to apologise for their seating area being invaded by supporters. Telegraph Sport can reveal the contents of those letters, in which the FA privately admits that the mayhem spread to “the area we seated our sponsors, venue partners and players’ friends and families”.

The FA refused to comment on whether hospitality areas had been invaded on July 11. Under the licensing agreement with Uefa, the tournament organiser, the FA’s Club Wembley hospitality debentures - which are effectively a season ticket for all events at the stadium over the course of a year - were suspended for the eight Euro 2020 games. Hospitality was instead available to buy via Uefa at the start of the tournament with packages, including the final, costing around €2,000 per person, per match.

For the final, the prestige package, sold on the Uefa website - including a match ticket, “rich buffet offering” and “commemorative gift” - cost an eye-watering €5,900 per person.

The FA’s senior commercial manager James Taylor wrote to the FA’s commercial partners on July 13, two days after the final, to say that the FA and Uefa would take action against those who illegally entered the stadium without tickets. He wrote: “In regards to you and your guests we can only apologise if your experience was impacted.”

Taylor said that the FA had “hosted 8 [sic] games in total of which 7 went ahead relatively issue free with a great tournament vibe inside and outside the stadium” and praised the performance of Gareth Southgate’s team.

He added: “I wanted to reach out to you today following a number of incidents in and around our tickets at lasts [sic] night’s game. A number of fans forced entry into Wembley and we recognise that for many of you that attended, you and your guests will have witnessed some potentially disturbing scenes. The crowds outside the Stadium were unprecedented and the focus of the security teams was to ensure that the gates were not breached in significant numbers. It is also unfortunate that these incidents occurred in the area we seated our sponsors, venue partners and players' friends and families.”

In a separate email sent to players’ families, the player liaison officer for the team, Lewis Maddison, who also identifies himself as one of the FA’s senior commercial managers, apologised for “a number of incidents in and around the family and friends’ section at lasts [sic] night’s game.”

In an email sent on the evening of July 12, one day after the game, he wrote: “A number of fans forced entry into Wembley and we recognise that many of you witnessed some disturbing scenes. The crowds outside the Stadium were unprecedented and the focus of the security teams was to ensure that the gates were not breached in significant numbers.” He added: “I can only apologise for what you experienced last night.”

The income from hospitality, especially clients at Club Wembley, is critical to the FA’s financing of the stadium. While Club Wembley members did not have the eight Euro 2020 Wembley games included in their package, they did get priority on buying tickets for the games from the FA’s allocation. All contractors who sign deals with the FA are encouraged to buy Club Wembley debentures. Hospitality packages are also judged critical in relationships with the FA's main commercial partners, which currently include major brands such as Nike, BT, McDonald’s and Emirates airline.

The FA declined to comment when contacted by Telegraph Sport specifically about the apologies issued to commerical partners and families and friends of players, and said all matters relating to the Euro 2020 final will be investigated as part of Baroness Casey’s review.