Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images
- Euro 2020 has been set up to favor England and let the team win, some continental media outlets say.
- One Italian newspaper claimed that England got a dubious penalty as a favor to Boris Johnson.
- Meanwhile, a Spanish TV host said Euro 2020 is the "most shameful competition" he has ever covered.
- There's no evidence to suggest that England has been given deliberately preferential treatment.
- Visit Insider's homepage for more stories.
Euro 2020 was set up to make it easy for England to win, according to some Italian and Spanish media outlets.
The outlets variously claim – without evidence – that England has been given favorable decisions on the field, that the tournament was deliberately organized in a way that would favor Gareth Southgate's team, and even that a key moment was rigged as a political thank you to UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
The two main sources of the conspiracy theory are widely-respected Italian newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport and Spanish TV show El Chiringuito, which have both produced pieces suggesting the tournament has effectively been organized so England wins.
In an article the morning after England beat Denmark in the Euro semifinals, Gazzetta dello Sport highlighted the awarding of a "generous penalty" to England during the game.
After the 90 minutes finished 1-1, the game went to extra time during which Manchester City's Raheem Sterling was adjudged to have been fouled in the box, but replays showed the contact was minimal.
In the now-deleted post, the newspaper wrote that the penalty was given as thanks to Boris Johnson for his role in shutting down the European Super League.
-Simon Evans (@sgevans) July 8, 2021
The UK Prime Minister was a strong opponent of the plans, which would have seen six of the top teams in England leave UEFA competitions.
While Gazzetta highlighted the Sterling penalty incident to suggest a fixed tournament - again, there is no evidence of this - Spanish TV El Chiringuito pointed to England's route through the tournament as proof of conspiracy, calling it "pathetic."
On the show, journalist Roberto Morales claimed UEFA organized the tournament so that England would reach the final.
-El Chiringuito in English (@ElChiringuitoEN) July 8, 2021
"For me, this has been the most shameful competition that we have covered. It has been pathetic.
"We've had matches in cities that aren't even European in any sense. We've got a final that was prepared for a country that left the European Union.
"It has been totally prepared. They've played every game at home except one. It has been totally conditioned for England.
"All that was missing was the help received with the penalty in a game that was proving complicated [Thursday's game with Denmark]."
As previously mentioned, there is no evidence of deliberate plot to ensure England wins the Euros, but it is true that the team has played more games in its home country than any other.
Of England's six games in the tournament so far, five have been at Wembley, while its quarterfinal with Ukraine was held in Rome, just a two hour plane ride from London.
No other team in the tournament played more than three games in its home country.
Italy played all its group games in Rome, before a last 16 match in London, a quarterfinal in Munich, and a semifinal in London.
England and Italy contest the final at Wembley Stadium, London at 8:00 p.m. local time (3:00 p.m. ET) Sunday.