Uefa is apparently thinking about relocating the final
Shortly before the knockout games at London’s Wembley Stadium, Uefa is increasing the pressure on the English authorities to resolve corona exemptions. Uefa commented cautiously on a report by the British Times, according to which the transfer of the semi-finals and final to Budapest could be discussed, but also with the sentence: “There is always an emergency plan, but we are confident that the final week will be held in London.”
Two rounds of 16 (June 26th and 29th) are scheduled for the coming week, before both semi-finals there on July 6th and 7th and the final on July 11th. Up to 45,000 spectators are to be admitted to the knockout roundwhich corresponds to 50 percent of the total capacity of the stadium.
The “Times” reports that the negotiations are particularly about VIP guests, for whom the same strict corona rules should not apply when entering the country as for normal returnees or travelers. In the UK, the delta variant of the coronavirus discovered in India is currently spreading rapidly and, despite the high vaccination rate, significantly increases the number of new infections. Further relaxations that were already planned have been postponed, and quarantine is mandatory when entering from almost all countries.
“At the moment we are in talks with the local authorities to try to enable the fans of the participating teams to take part in the games,” said Uefa and wrote by “Strict” test and corona bubble concepts. “We understand the pressures that the government is facing and we hope that our discussions will end satisfactorily.”
The British government initially refused to comment on the reports. (dpa)
