Euro 2024 group-stage draw in Hamburg was sabotaged by an embarrassing sex-noise prank. Loud moaning noises could be heard several times in the background during the latter stages as the draw for next summer’s men’s European Championship in Germany was being conducted at the Elbphilharmonie concert hall.

There were no shortage of awkward looks and smirks from the football dignitaries in the crowd, while the likes of Manchester City legend David Silva and Danish football icon Brian Laudrup tried to maintain their composure as they continued to draw the teams despite the odd disruption.

“There is some noise here… that has now stopped,” said draw host and UEFA’s deputy general secretary Giorgio Marchetti after the completion of Group A, which included hosts Germany plus Scotland, Hungary and Switzerland.

“No noise anymore…” he added, before the loud noises then promptly resumed when Italy was drawn as the last team into Group B along with Spain, Albania and Croatia.

When asked about the noise interruption, England boss Gareth Southgate said: “I did. I’m assuming it was some sort of a prank, but it was hard to really make out what it was.”

The same prank was pulled in January during the BBC’s broadcast of an FA Cup third-round replay between Premier League rivals Wolves and Liverpool at Molineux.

YouTube prankster and pitch invader Daniel Jarvis has claimed responsibility for the prank, posting a live stream of how it happened on his social media accounts.