Holland friendly a police 'burden'

England’s friendly against Holland at Wembley was called off because every officer on duty “must be deployed to protect life, our communities and properties”, police said today.

Scotland Yard said officers did not need the “additional burden” of a crowd of 80,000 spectators travelling through the capital at the same time as riots were taking place.

The move to cancel an England international is unprecedented in recent times, but supporters will welcome the early decision, as will the Dutch side who were due to fly out of Amsterdam this morning.

A Scotland Yard spokesman said: “Following a discussion with the FA the advice given is based on the fact that the kick off time for this match fits within the time period that we have seen disorder happening across the capital, and within a similar area.

“Groups of fans would need to travel through the capital during this peak period and this is something we are keen to avoid. We do not need the additional burden of a crowd of 80,000 people on our streets tomorrow night.

“Every officer on duty must be deployed to protect life, our communities and properties.

“Over the next 24 hour period, we will have in the region of 16,000 officers on duty. Our custody suites are full and we are must prioritise processing those prisoners remaining from the 450 arrested to date and tracking down those outstanding.

“As we go through the next few days we will continue to review the level of officers required.

“We thank the FA and the Dutch FA for their cooperation at this very difficult time.”

Bert van Oostveen, chief executive of the Dutch federation the KNVB, told Voetbal International: “The police in London could not guarantee the safety of our players and our supporters.

“The (commercial) damage runs into millions. I’m hoping for an elegant solution with the English FA.”

A brief statement from the FA read: “It is with regret that tomorrow’s international fixture with Holland at Wembley has been called off.”