Over the last few weeks, many have speculated that England’s travel restrictions will prompt the
relocation of the Euro 2020 semifinals and finals from Wembley. However, the British
government has reached an agreement with the tournament organizers to allow a crowd of
around 60,000 fans in Wembley stadium, ending the speculation that London might not be
hosting the Euro 2020 finals.
The decision to allow 60,000 fans in Wembley was announced on Tuesday last week, hours
before England’s last game in the group stages where they played the Czech Republic at
Wembley. That came after intense talks between the competition’s governing body, UEFA
(which controls this championship tournament), and the local authorities to put Britain’s
pandemic travel rules on hold.
Earlier, UEFA had sought changes to allow thousands of overseas supporters and around 2,500
V.I.Ps to visit London for the final and semifinal games. However, the statement announcing the
agreement between the authorities didn’t reveal what exemptions were agreed upon.
Nonetheless, it stated that the capacity for these three Euro 2020 games was increased to 75% of
Wembley Stadium’s capacity, a figure reaching more than 60,000 people.
Following the adjustment, the Euro 2020 final match will record the biggest attendance of any
sports event organized in Britain since March last year. According to UEFA president
Aleksander Caferin, the last 18 months have proven that fans are an integral part of the game.
Ceferin was planning to talk more with the British government officials last week when he
attended England’s match at Wembley.
Officials who were briefed on the statement revealed there was a wider agreement to meet
UEFA’s request for the 2500 VIPs invited, including soccer dignitaries, broadcasting crew, and
commercial partners. However, the request to allow thousands of fans to visit London to watch
the game from the nations represented in the final match is not likely to be met. Fortunately,
Betway
Soccer betting will allow fans to wager on the game live through their app. Betway has
already listed odds on the quarterfinal games and will continue offering odds on all Euro 2020
matches.
According to the officials involved in the negotiations, the authorities could issue a dispensation
for 2000 supporters at most from the participating countries. The number is a symbolic number
that could help limit potential criticism for removing the restrictions for the VIPs.
The crisis over the semifinal and final matches arose after an increase in infection rates in
Britain, forcing the government to back away from their plan to lift their social distancing
restrictions as earlier planned. The surge was linked to a new and aggressive variation of the
virus, dashing all hopes that the final match could be played in front of 90,000 fans at Wembley.
The stadium allowed only 22,500 fans for three group stage matches, with the number increasing
to 40,000 in the round of 16 matches. However, the capacity was capped to 22,500 fans fun
Sunday’s Italy game against Austria.
The ongoing concern on lifting
the travel regulation was highlighted by the news that several
players who played the England vs Scotland game were in Isolation. That ruled out these players
from England’s game against the Czech Republic.