8 Euro 2020 host cities confirm plans to welcome fans
By Tom Gott
Eight of the 12 host cities of this summer's European Championships have confirmed their plans to play matches in front of fans this summer.
With several countries across Europe still playing matches in empty stadiums because of the COVID-19 outbreak, there had been doubts over whether any supporters would get the chance to see their countries in action at the Euros - which had to be postponed last summer because of obvious safety concerns.
? Spectators will be allowed to return safely to venues for #EURO2020.
— UEFA EURO 2020 (@EURO2020) April 9, 2021
?️ 8 host cities have confirmed stadium capacities. Decisions on matches in the remaining 4 host cities will be made on 19 April.
More info on tickets, relevant travel restrictions & more ???
At this point in the calendar, numerous countries are closing in on the return of fans in some capacity, and UEFA have confirmed on their official website that eight host cities have concrete plans to allow some supporters into their stadiums.
Leading the charge is Budapest (Hungary), which is aiming to use the entirety of the Puskas Arena's 65,000 capacity as long as fans can fulfil strict stadium entry requirements.
The Saint Petersburg Stadium in Russia has confirmed a capacity of 50%, but Russian authorities are hopeful of bumping that number up before the end of April. Baku (Azerbaijan) will also operate at 50% but is not planning to go any further.
Amsterdam (Netherlands), Bucharest (Romania), Copenhagen (Denmark) and Glasgow (Scotland) will all welcome anywhere between 25% and 33% of fans into stadiums, with all apart from Glasgow open to boost their capacities at the end of April if their mass testing programmes continue to progress.
Finally, London (England) has also confirmed a minimum capacity of 25% for the three group-stage matches and the round-of-16 tie hosted at Wembley, and there are hopes that that number will rise for the semi-finals and final in early June.
Those cities yet to confirm their plans are Munich (Germany), Rome (Italy), Bilbao (Spain), Dublin (Ireland).
?️?? Johan Cruijff ArenA ?
— UEFA EURO 2020 (@EURO2020) April 8, 2021
Which players come to mind? pic.twitter.com/XKnAmAFQBK
The remaining cities have until April 19 to provide information on their plans, after which final decisions will be made regarding the staging of matches in those four cities.
Fans will be allowed to cross borders to follow their countries, but only if they follow each city's strict COVID guidelines, all of which will be finalised closer to the tournament.
