Boris Johnson cast doubt on the European Championship final at Wembley: “We’ll see if sensible exemptions can be made”

The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Boris johnson, confirmed that they will speak with UEFA to analyze “sensible exemptions”In order to accommodate 2,500 VIP people for the semifinals and final of the Eurocup.

The newspaper The Times announced this Friday the conversations between the ministers so that UEFA guests are exempt from the mandatory 10-day quarantine that travelers must undergo of the countries on the amber list.

This would be one of the conditions that UEFA would have put in order not to transfer the final and semifinals to another country with less requirements, such as Hungary., where the stadium in Budapest is playing at full capacity.

UEFA is evaluating moving the semifinals and the final to Budapest, where it is played with the capacity at 100%

Asked about the matter, Johnson confirmed the talks with UEFA. “We will do what we have to do to keep the country safe from COVID-19, which is obviously our priority. We will talk to UEFA to see what they want and if sensible waivers can be made”Said the prime minister.

“But obviously our priority is public health”He added.

Should you fail to accommodate UEFA guests, to Wembley, which hosts eight tournament matches, It could happen to him like with the final of the Champions, when, due to the refusal of the Government to grant exemptions, it moved to Porto despite having two English teams.

UEFA “delighted” that Wembley capacity increases by at least 50%

Earlier, UEFA was “delighted” that the capacity of Wembley Stadium in London increase by at least 50% for knockout round matches and confirmed that “it is in talks with local authorities to try to allow fans of the participating teams to attend” them.

As he explained, this would be done “using strict test and bubble concept, which would mean that their stay in the United Kingdom would be less than 24 hours and their movements would be restricted to transport and approved places only ”.

“We understand the pressures the government is facing and we look forward to reaching a satisfactory conclusion to our talks on this matter. There is always a contingency plan, but we are confident that the last week will be held in London“, he pointed.

UEFA: “There is always a contingency plan, but we trust that the last week will be held in London”

Wembley Stadium, which is the site of eight Euro Cup matches, including the semi-finals and the final on July 11, allows the presence of 22,500 spectators during the group stage and this figure could be doubled for those qualifiers despite current restrictions.

Last Monday, the British government announced that will delay removal of COVID-19 restrictions by four weeks, a measure that implies its extension until August 19 instead of July 21, as planned.

Although this would conflict with the English federation’s claim to allow a 50% capacity from the round of 16, Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced that the Eurocup will be used as a test event and increased capacity will be allowed, so there could be 45,000 viewers.

Italy imposes a 5-day quarantine on travelers from the United Kingdom

Italy imposed the obligation to do an anti-coronavirus test and a five-day quarantine to citizens from the United Kingdom and extended the ban on entering the country to citizens arriving from India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.

The Italian Minister of Health, Roberto Speranza, signed an ordinance in which a brief quarantine was introduced for travelers arriving from the United Kingdom, as the President of the Government, Mario Draghi, had already advanced, given the increase in cases of the Indian variant or Delta.

Furthermore, the existing entry ban measures for people from India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka were expanded.

The UK has seen a spike in infections in recent weeks due to the rapid spread of the Delta variant, identified for the first time in India, despite the good pace of the population vaccination plan.

Much more contagious than the Alpha variant, which appeared in late 2020 in Kent, in the south-east of England, Delta began to spread mostly in the English North West before spreading across the rest of the UK, especially among young people not yet vaccinated with the first of the two doses of the preparation.

Scientists have indicated that 90% of the infections recorded in the country correspond to the Delta variant.

(With information from EFE)

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