England and Wales fans hit by booze ban before Euro 2016 meeting

Supporters of England and Wales will be searched for alcohol when they enter Lens for the Euro 2016 Group Stage game.

French authorities will restrict all drinking to official fanzones on the day of the game, with a 24-hour ban on alcohol in the centre of the town. Lens has a population of less than 35,000, but is one of the most northerly host cities for the tournament and thus one of the most accessible for English and Welsh fans. Supporters without tickets have been strongly encouraged to stay away, according to the Daily Telegraph, with hooliganism fears sparking tough preemptive measures. The measures will be in place for all matches held in the small town. https://twitter.com/eurosuefa/status/735154903660777472 England v Wales is the second game scheduled to take place at the Stade Bollaert-Delelis, whose capacity is higher than the population of the entire town. Albania will take on on Switzerland in Lens on June 11, the same day that England face Russia in Marseille. The other fixtures due to take place in Lens are the group stage decider between Turkey and the Czech Republic and a second-round game involving the winner of Group D and the third-place team in group B, E or F.