Nearly 150,000 people have signed a petition demanding that the European Championship 2020 final between England and Italy be replayed, with some viewers apparently unable to accept Azzurri’s victory.
The Three Lions made it 1-1 with Italy after extra time, before losing the European Championship final on a heartbreaking penalty at Wembley on 11 July.
Roberto Mancini’s men lifted the trophy for the second time in the country’s history and for the first time since 1968.
How about a rematch? / LAURENCE GRIFFITHS / Getty Images
Italy may have been the best side of the night (and throughout the tournament in general) but some supporters have struggled to accept that football would not “come home” this year.
A petition entitled “Rematch Demand for Italy V England” was created on www.change.org by user Sharon Guilmen and has since collected over 142,000 virtual signatures.
The brief blur that accompanies the presentation contains some (at best) problematic language, while at the same time questioning the judge Björn Kuiper’s integrity. The Italian players’ “push, pull and kick” and “pull” are used as reasons why the game was not fair and should be replayed.
Change.org appears as a popular platform for the modern annoyed fan / troll, with a similar presentation that was set up days earlier and requested that England’s semi-final win over Denmark also be replayed. The specific petition now has about 36,000 registrations.
According to British government rules, any petition that receives more than 100,000 signatures is almost always discussed in Parliament. But what those who report expect the British government to do for the result of a football match is someone who guesses.
Still, it’s better to sign completely meaningless petitions than to throw Leicester Square away, fight among other fans and put flammable substances in your person, I guess.
Can football still come home as a result of the latest lifeline?
Spoiler alert: No.
