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England and Wales football fans will not be allowed to drink any alcohol during their Euro 2016 group stage match in Lens, reports the BBC.A 24-hour ban has been put in place by the city – situated roughly 125 miles from Paris – beginning at 06:00 CET on Thursday and ending at 06:00 on Friday. French authorities say they will search cars travelling into the city for alcohol and have advised anyone without tickets for the game or the local fanzone not to travel.The full extent of the ban, and exactly how it will be policed, is unclear. Will the entire city of Lens (population 32,000) be going dry for the day? Or will locals be allowed to drink, while anyone exhibiting signs of Britishness is turned away? If fans make friends with locals and are invited into their homes, can they share a carafe of wine in front of the telly? What about hotels, or Airbnb residences?The ban is not directly aimed at Brits, however. It will apply to all matches in Lens during the tournament – a decision that is down to individual host cities – with Albania vs. Switzerland and the Czech Republic vs. Turkey also set to go dry.
This calls into serious question the decision to host Euro 2016 matches in Lens, suggesting that the city is unequipped to deal with such an influx of fans. How the day will play out remains to be seen, but we can assume that a thriving black-market in tins of Kronenbourg will exist by lunchtime on June 10th.VIDEO: Interview with British police office in charge of football policing about 24-hour Euros booze ban in Lens — Rob Harris (@RobHarris)May 24, 2016