The police in the German city of Stuttgart responded to the criticism directed at them by Domenico Tedesco, the coach of the Belgian national team.
After the goalless draw with Ukraine on Wednesday at the end of the group stage of Euro 2024, Tedesco complained about the difficult conditions of the trip.
Tedesco said after his team qualified for the round of 16: “It took us an hour to come from the hotel headquarters, accompanied by the police. The road was completely empty, but they slowed the speed to 20-25 kilometers per hour.”
“All the traffic lights were red, I only had two minutes to do a warm-up talk and we had to cut down on the warm-up time, it’s unbelievable,” he explained.
Stuttgart police said the Belgians were responsible for arriving late for their Euro 2024 match against Ukraine.
“The police informed the Belgian national team and UEFA in advance that 40 minutes was not enough to get from the team’s residence to the stadium,” police spokesman Frank Pels told the Stuttgarter Nachrichten and Stuttgarter Zeitung newspapers.
The police indicated that the distance would take 60 minutes, but this was rejected by the Belgian Football Association.
“Nothing unusual happened during our escort of the Belgian team bus,” Belz added, noting that the bus left the hotel three minutes late.
He continued that the bus speed should be reduced temporarily, to respect the time difference required between the arrival of the two teams participating in the match.
He concluded that the Belgians prepared for the late arrival themselves by insisting that the flight time took only 40 minutes.
Read also:
Ronaldo’s anger and Bellingham’s stains… moments of Euro stars
Political crises and sanctions ignite Euro 2024 groups
Video and photos: Euro 2024 embarrasses Germany
ظهرت في الأصل على www.yallakora.com