Euro 2020: £36,000 raised for crying Germany fan to go to charity

Germany were knocked out by England in the last 16 match of Euro 2020

A man who raised £36,000 for a young Germany fan who was filmed crying at a Euro 2020 match says the money will go to charity after her family was found.

Joel Hughes, of Caerleon, Newport, launched a fundraiser to "show her not everyone in the UK is horrible".

Some England fans made abusive comments about her after she was pictured crying during Germany's 2-0 defeat at Wembley.

In a statement on the fundraising page, the girl's family said they wanted the money to be donated to Unicef.

The statement said: "In the interests of our daughter and our family we would like to remain private, however we wish to thank everyone for your amazing support.

"Our daughter would like to request your generous donations go to Unicef, knowing that your kindness will do good."

The young girl was filmed crying during England's 2-0 win over Germany at Wembley

Mr Hughes, 51, said on the page he was "beyond grateful" to the supporters of the campaign.

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When setting up the appeal last week, he said he set up the fundraiser after seeing "vile abuse of the images of the little girl" online.

The initial target of the appeal was £500, with Mr Hughes saying he hoped her parents would "spend this on a nice treat for her so that she knows that not everyone from the UK is horrible".

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