The Football Association has insisted that the massive security operation for the Champions League final between Real Madrid and Borussia Dortmund on Saturday night was a success, particularly in terms of keeping out ticketless fans who tried to storm the Wembley gates.
The biggest game in European club football was marred at the outset by three men invading the pitch. The first got close enough to the Madrid forward Vinícius Júnior to take a selfie and the last was eventually bundled away by stewards with the Dortmund midfielder Marcel Sabitzer lending a hand. The Metropolitan police said on Sunday night that three people have been charged with invading the pitch – Yevhenii Lubnenko, 29, David Carneckij, 28, and a 16-year-old boy are accused of going on to the playing area at a football match contrary to Section 4 of the Football (Offences) Act 1991.
