UEFA threatens to remove London from the Eurocup final if it does not relax restrictions due to covid

UEFA acknowledged this Friday that it is "in discussion with local authorities to try to allow fans of the participating teams to attend the matches" of the last week of the tournament scheduled at Wembley. The Eurocup calendar foresees that the final (July 11), the two semifinals (July 6 and 7) and two round of 16 matches (June 26 and 29) will be played at the London stadium. For that to be possible, the British government, which on Monday delayed the de-escalation of measures against the pandemic for four weeks, should relax restrictions on people arriving in the country from abroad. Otherwise, according to

, UEFA plans to move the final to Budapest, which next week opens its borders within the Schengen zone and allows the stadium to be filled to 100% capacity.

UEFA has recognized this Friday that it already has an alternative: "There is always a contingency plan, but we trust that the last week can be played in London."

According to the London newspaper, one of the thorniest points in the negotiation is the case of the 2,500 VIP guests that UEFA wants to be able to be in the final, between authorities, politicians and sponsor commitments.

The Boris Johnson government fears the reaction of the local public to a concession to this group after it announced on Monday that it was delaying the lifting of some of the restrictions that affect the British for four weeks.

Current regulations require ten days of quarantine (which can be shortened with an extra test) for people arriving in the United Kingdom from countries considered amber (such as Spain) or red zone. The rule contemplates some exceptions related to high-level sporting events, such as the Eurocup, for people directly involved in the competition, such as athletes, or in their organization. These people can leave isolation to move to the venues where the event is taking place, but only for that.

A few days before the start of the tournament, UEFA informed the accredited media that they could rely on what applies to this group, under the name of “auxiliary sports personnel”.

According to the tournament organizer "this exemption allows the 'bubble concept', that is, travel between the hotel and all official UEFA EURO 2020 venues, such as Wembley Stadium."

But only to those places: the rest of the time the confinement must be maintained.

More information

• Euro 2021: calendar, groups, schedules and results of the matches

• Sergio Busquets tests negative and returns to concentration with Spain

Now he intends to extend this route to the fans of the teams that compete in the semifinals and the final, as well as to the 2,500 VIPs invited to the last match, “using strict tests and the bubble concept that would mean that his stay in the United Kingdom would less than 24 hours and that their movements would be restricted only to approved transport and venues, "says UEFA in its statement this Friday.

So far, what they had already achieved is that for those last matches Wembley's capacity was expanded, from the current 25% to 50%.

Now all spectators, and the press, are required to have a negative antigen test or a complete vaccination test, in the case of the British, and a negative antigen test or PCR for foreigners.

Subscribe here