Wembley To Host At 75% Capacity For Euro's Finale
A final agreement has been reached between UEFA and the UK government over capacities allowed for the semi-finals and final at Wembley for Euro 2020.
Over 60,000 fans will be in attendance at Wembley as a 75 per cent capacity was agreed for the climax of this summer's pan-European staging of the Euros. The final three games of the competition will see the largest crowds assembled at a sporting event in the UK in over 15 months.
Several media outlets had suggested either Budapest or Rome could replace Wembley as the venue for the Euro finales amid concerns from UEFA around England's coronavirus restrictions. The Italian prime minister in particular was keen as regards hosting the culmination of the festival for football.
UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin said: "This tournament has been a beacon of hope to reassure people that we are returning to a more normal way of life and this is a further step along that road. I am grateful to the Prime Minister and the UK government for their hard work in finalising these arrangements with us, to make the tournament final stages a great success in Wembley."
The UK government remains in talks with UEFA over exemptions for additional guests and overseas fans for the semi-finals and final, with public health the number one priority, which appeared to be UEFA's main concern. The sporting body had requested that UK quarantine restrictions to ease around the final three games of tournament, with a 24-hour 'bubble' in place instead of mandatory 10-day quarantine (reduced to five days upon a further negative test). The Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport is expected to provide further clarity later this week on exactly how the restrictions may now be arranged, but the Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden said: "The finals promise to be an unforgettable moment in our national recovery from the pandemic."
Wembley's capacity has been reduced to 22,500 for group fixtures at Euro 2020, while it was already announced last week the round-of-16 match on June 29th would be hosted with at least 40,000 fans.
The matches will form part of the government's fan pilot events programme, alongside major sporting events such as Wimbledon, with fans required to follow Covid-19 entry requirements, including having a negative Covid-19 test or proof of full vaccination, 14 days before the fixture.
The FA chief executive Mark Bullingham has also commented on the site of larger numbers of spectators within the national stadia, and across the tournament so far, "It's amazing how much atmosphere fans have been able to generate so far, so to have three times as many will be fantastic. We have always said that fans are the lifeblood of the game, so it's brilliant that so many will get a chance to see the tournament finale."
