The European football championship begins in less than three months.
The crucial question: where is it played?
Apparently not in Munich after all.
Munich - The thought was so beautiful, so romantic.
For the 60th anniversary of the tournament, the 2020 European Championship was to be held in different countries.
This would have turned the entire continent into a football paradise.
The reality is different.
In 2020 the tournament could not take place at all.
A year later, there are strong doubts about the originally planned pan-European EM * (June 11th to July 11th).
And so it happens, less than three months before the start of the tournament, as it just had to happen: Munich will most likely not be a venue for the European Championship - the GAU, the fiasco for the Bavarian capital!
The group matches of the German national team against France (June 15), Portugal (June 19) and Hungary (June 23) as well as a quarter-finals should actually take place in the Allianz Arena *.
In the Corona year 2021, this will probably not be possible - because the national pandemic does not coincide with the plans of the European Championship host UEFA.
And they read: spectators.
Why?
EM 2021: Munich will probably not be a venue after all - UEFA plans leaked
Before the pandemic, the association had expected around two billion euros in revenue from the EM.
With this calculation, ticket sales account for almost a quarter of the proceeds.
It goes without saying that the makers insist on the supporters' money.
“Every host has to guarantee that fans are allowed to go to the games,” said UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin * to the Croatian media: “We have several scenarios.
But the option of some European Championship game being played without fans is definitely off the table. ”For more than a year, not a single spectator has entered the Allianz Arena for FC Bayern's home games.
It is ruled out that Corona will allow masses of fans to flow into the wide area again in three months.
According to SID information, the twelve host cities (Munich, Amsterdam, Baku, Bilbao, Budapest, Bucharest, Dublin, Glasgow, Copenhagen, Rome, St. Petersburg and London) have to declare themselves to UEFA regarding the audience question by April 7th.
The decision on the format of the final tournament will probably be made at the UEFA Congress on April 20 at the earliest.
EM 2021: Where does the European Championship take place?
Fans should go to the stadium
“The ideal variant is to play in all twelve countries.
But it is possible that the tournament will be played in ten or eleven countries if some countries do not meet the conditions, "said Ceferin about the European Championship, which was postponed for a year on March 17, 2020 due to the corona pandemic.
Recently, there has been repeated speculation in various media about which cities could be deleted.
It was mostly about Baku, Dublin, Bilbao and Glasgow.
In addition, there are rumors that a large part of the games should take place in Great Britain *.
This assumption is obvious because the vaccinations are already well advanced on the island - which could enable spectators in the stadiums.
According to SID information, the Munich organizers called a meeting on Wednesday morning based on Ceferin's statements.
After all, in Munich, as in all of Germany, no spectators are currently allowed in the football stadiums.
Munich's Lord Mayor Dieter Reiter was correspondingly irritated by the Ceferin statements: “At this point in time, it is simply not possible to make a statement as to whether the coronavirus pandemic infection will allow spectators to be admitted in June or not.
It is clear, however, that events of this kind with spectators are not allowed under the current regulations, "the SPD politician announced on Wednesday:" At this time in particular, I would like the people in charge at UEFA * to have a direct exchange with the Look for host cities to work out a solution together. "
EM 2021 not in Germany after all?
DFB reacts to UEFA's plans
In order to meet the requirements of UEFA, a special regulation on the part of politics would probably be needed.
In view of the steadily increasing number of cases and far more pressing problems, it is doubtful whether such an “extra sausage” would find acceptance in the population.
What Dagmar Freitag thinks of the UEFA conditions, the chairwoman of the sports committee of the German Bundestag made clear with her comment on Twitter: “Without words.
Parallel world of professional football. "
In view of the time pressure, the topic would have to be discussed at the federal-state consultations on Monday - after all, the item “events” is on the agenda.
Nevertheless, a final round with spectators across the continent currently seems unthinkable, as travel is viewed by all experts as the driver of the pandemic.
The restrictions currently in force in many countries would make it largely impossible for fans to cross borders anyway.
The DFB * told the SID that it would continue to work on all scenarios.
"In the interests of the fans, we would like to fulfill the vision that spectators can also attend the EURO 2020 games in Munich under the applicable provisions," it said in a statement.
The association left it open whether this is feasible: "In the ongoing talks with UEFA and our partners in Munich, we will continue to discuss whether and how these goals can be implemented."
(Akl / sid) * tz.de is an offer from IPPEN.MEDIA
