Czech police have been put on high alert for the arrival of an estimated 6,000 English supporters for Friday’s Euro 2020 qualifier between England and the Czech Republic.

The fixture has been designated as high risk, with the Czech police ready to deploy an unprecedented number of officers, including English-speaking “anti-conflict units” and, if necessary, anti-riot units.

Prague’s surveillance camera system will be used to monitor fans’ behaviour away from the stadium, a city council spokesperson said.

When England played the Netherlands in a friendly on a Friday night in Amsterdam during March 2018, there were more than 100 arrests and condemnation for the appalling behaviour of the travelling fans.

“I wrote to Uefa asking them to reconsider the Friday night kick-off,” Roberts said. “That’s not something we’ve been able to do. It is harder when you’re dealing with them [Uefa] and, particularly, when you’re playing away. I think it’s unfortunate because you can foresee the risk. We’d much rather prevent a situation developing than try to manage it on the night and regret it afterwards,” said the English national police lead officer for football, Mark Roberts.

Having made a 100% winning start to the Euro 2020 qualifying campaign, England could even secure their place at the tournament this month if they win both games.

The Three Lions will face the Czech Republic, a side they beat 5-0 in March, in Prague on Friday 11 October, with the Bulgaria fixture to follow in Sofia on Monday 14 October – England prevailed 4-0 winners in the reverse game against Bulgaria last month.

The Czechs are second in the table with nine points and three games to play. England, which has a game in hand, tops the group with 12 points.

Bulgaria, Kosovo, and Montenegro are also in the group.

The Prague CEE CUP is about to kick off its 9th edition on July 24th. This time around, a myriad of football scouts will be present at the U19 football. Besides the local Sparta and Slavia players, they will also get to see other interesting talents from abroad.

According to the first names reported, it is expected that a number of representatives will be in Dinamo Zagreb, Beşiktaş Istanbul or Shakhtar Donetsk, which are Sparta’s rivals in Group A.

For example, the Zagreb team is the home of the offensive midfielder Edin Jularjija, a Croatian youth who is one of the youngest players in the line-up that helped push Dinamo’s promotion to the Youth League quarterfinals.

The fast-paced South American footballers should once again amaze the spectators in the matches of Palmeiras, which is one of Slavia’s rivals in Group B, which will be complemented by the English Burnley and Turkish Altinordu. In this group, Brazilian striker Fabricio, who, according to overseas media is threatening Sao Jesolo’s goal record set by Gabriel Jesus (currently a Manchester City player), should be among the most-watched players.

We will present a wider list of players, who should not fail to get the attention of scouts or ordinary football enthusiasts, on the tournament website. The organizers also decided to organize a Scouting Fundamentals tournament with IPSO (International Organization of Professional Scouts) this year. “A very limited number of people devote themselves to the profession of football scout in the Czech Republic.

However, we consider their work very important for the development of football, so we are pleased that Colin Chambers from IPSO, who has experience in Scouting in the Premier League, will come to Prague to speak”, explains Roberto De Blasio, Tournament Director. It is still possible to sign-up for the course via ceecup.org.

The entire tournament is once again made possible thanks to the generous contribution of the Czech capital. “I am glad that we can build on the tradition of our predecessors and support the CEE Cup youth tournament in 2019”, admits Vít Šimral, the city councilor. “This tournament is a prestigious long-term event that brings Prague fame in the Czech Republic and abroad. I wish all participating players the best of luck in their sporting performances and entertaining experience for the audience”, adds Šimral.