EXCLUSIVE: Euro 2020 finalists will be limited to just 1,000 fans each travelling from their home countries and they will be flown in and out immediately before and after the game, which could hand England an advantage if they make Wembley final
Overseas football fans travelling to the UK to support their country in the final of Euro 2020 at Wembley will be limited to just 1,000 per finalist as part of plans under discussion between the government and UEFA.
And no overseas supporters are expected to attend the semi-finals, Sportsmail understands.
The government announced this week that the capacity for the showpiece on July 11, would be raised to 60,000 supporters and around 2,500 VIPs would be allowed to attend without having to self-isolate.
Capacity at Wembley for the two semi finals and final has been increased to 60,000
The conversation has now turned to fans from the finalists’ countries and how to manage their arrival and departure, given the UK currently requires all overseas visitors to isolate for up to 10 days.
With 60,000 fans in attendance at the match, UEFA would normally allocate tickets for just under 10,000 fans for each participating nation, most of whom would normally fly in for the game.
But Sportsmail understands the government will not entertain anything close to that. Those numbers are now ‘out of the window’ said one source, stressing that this final in the age of coronavirus is unlike any other.
The Euro 2020 final at Wembley will go ahead with up to 60,000 people in attendance , but only 1,000 will be allowed to travel from participating nations outside the UK
Up to 1,000 overseas fans will be considered for each finalist. The details are yet to be concluded, but plans are being drawn up to fly supporters into the UK, bus them to the stadium for the game and then take them home again straight afterwards, in similar arrangements to those used at the Champions League final in Portugal.
At that game, 15 charter flights flew Manchester City fans to Porto for the match, which Chelsea won 1-0 on the evening of Saturday May 29, and the planes returned supporters to the UK taking off from Portugal between midnight and 5am on the Sunday morning.
A very limited numbers of fans travelling to the game from their home country will not necessarily impact on the atmosphere at the final. It is anticipated that the vast majority of the tickets allocated for each finalist will be taken up by their own citizens, who live in the UK.
The Puskas Arena in Budapest, Hungary has already gone ahead with hosting two games at a full capacity of 60,000 people in attendance
Since Britain is home to large ex-pat communities of many of the likely finalists there is confidence that there will a strong home atmosphere for any country that makes the final.
There are around 140,000 German citizens living in the UK, 160,000 French, 30,000 Belgians, 600,000 Italians and 185,000 Spanish.
Negotiations between government and UEFA have followed reports that the football body’s president, Aleksander Ceferin, told the ministers last week the UK’s border restrictions were too strict compared with those in the EU and that other cities were willing and able to host matches due to be played at Wembley.
These sparked concerns that UEFA could dramatically move the two semi-finals and final to Budapest, which has hosted two games of the European Championship in front of a full, 60,000 capacity at the Puskas Arena.
Today, the government amended coronavirus legislation to allow UEFA officials and others invited to Euro 2020 to attend without having to quarantine.
VIPs will have to travel straight to their accommodation and will only be allowed to leave to attend official Euro 2020 events . The exemption covers officials from UEFA, FIFA, national FAs, representatives from participating countries and sponsors.
However, there has been strident criticism of the government’s decision to allow VIPs to enter the country and reside here with out the usual quarantine restrictions.