• England v Netherlands

FA hopes England game can be rearranged

David Bernstein: "This is not a decision driven by money." © Getty Images

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FA chairman David Bernstein is confident England's friendly with Netherlands can be rearranged next year.

The riots that have swept through London in recent days prompted the FA, on advice from police, to call off Wednesday's fixture at Wembley.

There have been reports that the Dutch FA wants compensation for the cancellation of the fixture, but the FA claims the dialogue between the two associations has been positive and expects any losses to be recouped when the game is rearranged.

Bernstein said: "The Dutch FA were made aware of the situation prior to their departure from Holland and we thank them for their cooperation and support during this difficult period.

"This is not a decision driven by money. The actual costs involved, there is loss of income but we are hoping and believe that the game will be rearranged, hopefully next year, and if that happens all in all the costs will not be very great."

On the matter of compensation, Club England managing director Adrian Bevington said: "I have spoken with the chief executive of the Dutch FA this morning, along with various other representatives of the Dutch federation. We have also been in written dialogue and the dialogue between ourselves has been extremely positive and the key point here is the game is rearranged at the earliest convenience.

"There are potential slots that come available and any losses by not playing the game can be regained by playing at the earliest possible convenience.

"We have a history of playing the Dutch frequently. This is a reciprocal game from when we played in Amsterdam a couple of years ago. We are committed to playing the Dutch again and will do so."

Bernstein added: "I spoke to the president of the Dutch FA this morning and he was totally understanding and sympathetic of our situation.

"It is terribly sad to call the game off in this way. But we have to put safety and security matters first. We had no choice in this situation."

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