UEFA has today (Friday) granted Munich, Rome, Bilbao and Dublin extra time to provide additional information of their plans for Euro 2020, after confirming what the remaining eight host cities have outlined as their fan attendance plans for the postponed national team football tournament.
Currently, eight host countries have confirmed stadium capacities based on their projections of an improved health situation in their countries in June and July due to a number of factors, including a country’s vaccination rollout, its planned measures for reopening the economy and the projected slow-down in the virus due to warmer weather.
The rescheduled Euro 2020 is due to take place from June 11 to July 11. The tournament, initially scheduled for last summer, will be held in 12 cities across the continent but the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has created fresh challenges in organising what is a unique edition of the event.
UEFA had set a deadline of April 7 for host cities to provide guarantees over fan attendance, which led to a series of announcements on plans earlier this week. European football’s governing body has today confirmed what has been presented, with four cities at risk of potentially losing their hosting rights amid UEFA’s stance that fan attendance at some level must be allowed.
St. Petersburg (Gazprom Arena) has confirmed a capacity of 50%, with the possibility of increasing the capacity by end of April, while Budapest (Puskás Aréna) is aiming to host spectators at full capacity, subject to spectators fulfilling strict stadium entry requirements.
Baku (Olympic Stadium) has confirmed a capacity of 50%, with the travelling fans of the participating teams required to present a negative COVID-19 test result to enter Azerbaijan.
Amsterdam (Johan Cruijff ArenA), Bucharest (National Arena), Copenhagen (Parken Stadium) and Glasgow (Hampden Park) have confirmed a capacity of 25%-33%, with Amsterdam, Bucharest and Copenhagen keeping open the option to raise their capacities at the end of April, depending on the development of their mass testing programmes and general health conditions.
London, whose Wembley Stadium will be the main venue with seven games, has confirmed a minimum capacity of 25% for the three group matches and Round of 16 match and is hoping to confirm a higher capacity for the semi-finals and final in early July.
UEFA said the remaining four cities – Munich (Allianz Arena), Rome (Stadio Olimpico), Bilbao (San Mamés) and Dublin (Aviva Stadium, pictured) – have until April 19 to provide additional information on their plans, adding that final decisions will be made on that date regarding the staging of matches in those four venues.
UEFA has warned that fans wishing to travel to the host countries to watch the matches will find it “challenging due to ever-changing restrictions”. Fans will have to comply with the border entry restrictions and requirements (including quarantine) in force at the time, as no exemptions will be granted for ticketholders for nine host countries.
Only three host countries are planning exemptions from entry restrictions and requirements. Ticket holders travelling to Baku, Budapest and St. Petersburg may be able to benefit from special procedures that will exempt them from entry bans or quarantine requirements.
UEFA added that fans wishing to return their tickets for a full refund have until April 22 to take up this option. Once this date passes, UEFA will determine if the number of sold tickets that have been retained by ticket holders exceeds the permitted seating capacities of each match.
Should this be the case, a ballot will be held in order to determine the additional tickets that will need to be cancelled in order to comply with the decisions of the host country governments. Ticket buyers that have been unsuccessful in the ballot will be informed in May.
Image: tarafuku10
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