Deadline passes as Euro host cities hope against hope

UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin boldly told the world last month that he did not want any city hosting matches at the delayed Euro 2020 tournament if they could not guarantee fans.

But with the coronavirus pandemic showing no signs of easing in many parts of Europe, an April 7 deadline for cities to update UEFA of their plans to welcome back supporters has passed. 

Euro 2020, postponed by a year until June 11-July 11 2021 because of the global health crisis, is meant to take place in 12 cities across the continent in a novel idea dreamt up long before COVID-19 and when bidders were scarce.

Germany's Munich is one host city with a big question mark hanging over it. Coronavirus cases have been on the up in Germany and the vaccine program has been widely criticized as slow.

At present there seems to be no immediate plans to even gradually start to allow fans again at Bayern Munich games, let alone the amount of supporters UEFA would want. Munich is scheduled to host Germany's three group games, including their opener against world champions France on June 15, plus a last-eight clash. 

But the city of Munich told DW: "The DFB (German Football Federation) and the host city of Munich continue to plan for UEFA EURO 2020 with different scenarios regarding possible spectators in the stadium. The documents have now been submitted accordingly.

"In this respect, it is certainly conceivable and desirable that spectators can be in the stadium for the four matches in Munich. Which scenario can ultimately be implemented will depend on the current pandemic events in June or July."

Test events

Rome is due to hold the opening game between Italy and Turkey, as well as two more group encounters and a quarterfinal. The Eternal City is also planning for fans.

The Italian football federation chief Gabriele Gravina said talks with city and Italian government officials this week had an "excellent result" despite Italy still being badly affected by the pandemic.

Euro 2020 games in Amsterdam are set to be played with at least 12,000 spectators, the Dutch football association (KNVB) has announced. It has recently allowed a limited number of fans at Dutch games as test events.

The Euro semifinals and final are due to be played at London's Wembley Stadium, as well as England's group games and a last 16 match.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, buoyed by a successful vaccine program and falling case numbers, has bullishly said the country was now willing to hold the entire tournament if need be.

Plans are in place to allow the partial return on fans in pilot projects in England, with vaccine passports and testing all part of the proposals.

The League Cup final between Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester City on April 25 at Wembley will have 8,000 fans.

The FA Cup semifinal on 18 April, also at Wembley between Leicester City and Southampton, will have 4,000 fans while the final on May 15 is scheduled to have 21,000 spectators in the 90,000-seat arena.

Britain's steps are far more advanced than many other countries, but time is still tight before June 11. And whether even a quarter-full Wembley would please Ceferin is unclear.

"We have several scenarios, but the one guarantee we can make is that the option of playing any Euro 2020 match in an empty stadium is off the table," Ceferin told Croatian newspaper Sportske Novosti last month. "Every host must guarantee there will be fans at their games."

UEFA then quickly changed tune slightly when it said in a statement that "no city would automatically drop out" if they were forced to pursue a behind closed doors scenario.

Last weekend, UEFA tournament director Martin Kallen told Danish channel TV3 Sport: "We set April 7 as a deadline, so it's pleasing that all cities have already responded positively."  

It was not clarified what exactly that means. European football's governing body told DW: "UEFA will be issuing a communication within the next few days in regards to matters concerning UEFA EURO 2020."

Bilbao and Copenhagen, hoping for 25-30 percent full stadiums, Bucharest, Budapest, Dublin, Glasgow - which has approval for 12,000 fans - Baku and Saint Petersburg, which wants a half-full arena, are the other host cities.

A lot can still happen before June 11 with a UEFA executive committee meeting on April 19 expected to shed more light on the matter.