Tancredi Palmeri is not the most reliable source. To be honest, I include him in "junk" category. According to FRF's president (in a press conference today), the tournament will be played in 12 venues. It seems that the plan is to have a 50% capacity on every stadion. He said that until now, in all the meetings that he participated, UEFA didn't mention the option of a tournament in only one country. He is almost sure that we will have 12 venues, the only thing unknown yet is the number of spectators.
problem now is waiting for their official announcements. Too many rumors floating around. Nice to get excited about something after the last year though. Just a waiting game
Thanks for all the info, sorry things aren't in a better shape your way. Was looking forward to visiting the Isle, will have to make it that way soon.
Maybe keep an eye on things but if you haven't yet booked or can get a refund I think it best. Even with very low virus numbers last summer our government did not allow crowds at sporting events to exceed 200. The UK is a much better bet at this point for June. It could also be closed to foreign visitors although less likely.
UK is in good shape I am not even worried about their status for summer. I am not worried neither about Europe for the summer but I am a little afraid that at the point of decision, in early April the situation would not seem that much better as we have now (slightly worse). So this is why I am expecting lot of cancellation by the EU on the ticket front which will be reoffered to those who has been cancelled in Mid May.
Case numbers are undoubtedly going down and the number of vaccinated people increasing but my worry for the tournament is certain host countries will have one eye on preventing a variant strain getting in and will thus want to restrict incoming fans or impose quarantine periods which make attending games as a travelling fan completely impractical. Eg, the UK currently has a 10 day quarantine for all incomers and if you happen to come from "Red List country" such as Brazil or Portugal you have to spend the 10 days at a government approved hotel at a cost of £1750. Obviously we don't know whether the UK quarantine will be in place come the tournament but I can imagine some countries adopting a similar arrangement, particularly if their vaccination programmes haven't made as much progress.
A more detailed version of the story is in the Irish edition of the Sunday Times. It appears UEFA had a meeting with the host cities on Wednesday last. They do appear to be intent on ensuring those of us who bought tickets will get to see games (or intent on keeping our money depending on your point of view ). Our government had been very keen on hosting games. We even hosted the qualifying draw. However we have also had one of the strictest lockdowns in the world (most of us are pretty happy with that) but unfortunately have been very slow at rolling out the vaccine. I would be surprised if the government gave a commitment to allow fans by early April.
I am sad to see that Dublin might not willing to let fans in so therefore they can loose their games. One of the places I really wanted to visit and have a good time with people there. I believe this is the right call by UEFA. I still think that in summer the virus will be a non threat in Europe and I believe there is enough evidence of this scientifically that if some governments not willing to accept those facts and trying to play ultra conservative/safe, you should move the games to other places. I was hoping they might move those games to Budapest, but we have matches the next day in the group stage (2 days apart in round 16 though). Will they move these games to the UK, perhaps?
The knockout game in Dublin is the third match of our groups triple header (Glasgow Scotland-Croatia, London knockout, Dublin knockout). Already discussed dropping the Dublin travel if restrictions are high. Would love a move to the UK as I think one country travel would be easiest for a group.
Interestingly for Zenit St Pete, they are already offering half the stadium, with only 1 seat for social distancing.....inbetween!
How beautiful to see stadiums with fans again..i never watched russian football but i am quiet happy to watch them !
President Biden just announced that the US will have enough vaccine to cover all American adults by the end of May. As long as distribution holds up (a big factor) this is huge news. BREAKING: “This country will have enough vaccine supply for every adult in America by the end of May," President Biden says, advancing expected timeline by two months. pic.twitter.com/0hZq2862MD— NBC News (@NBCNews) March 2, 2021
The only consequence of a beautiful half-empty stadium is having thousands of people die a lonely, painful death.
Oh im pretty sure its 50 times less deadly than using metro now..go and see paris Wouldu u take a metro or watch a game in a half empty stadium ? I would definitly go to a stadium if i have to choose.
The Football Association and Uefa have ruled out the possibility of England acting as the sole hosts of this summer’s European Championship. https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/fa-and-uefa-reject-that-england-could-host-whole-euros-nt7hz6ngv
The Football Association and Uefa have ruled out the possibility of England acting as the sole hosts of this summer’s European Championship.This week Boris Johnson said that England would be prepared to stage more matches if any of the 12 host countries were unable to fulfil their fixtures because of the Covid-19 pandemic, with the prime minister’s comments fuelling further speculation that the country could hold the entire tournament. But both governing bodies have rejected the idea, with FA sources pointing out that it is already far too late to put in place the logistics required for an entire major tournament. Wembley is already hosting seven Euro 2020 games — England’s three group matches, including one against Scotland, a round-of-16 game, both semi-finals and the final — and the government’s roadmap out of lockdown for England announced last week would mean 10,000 fans allowed to the first two games and the potential for many more for the rest. The fan announcement led to Armand Duka, the Uefa executive committee member from Albania, raising the prospect of England becoming the only host. He told Italian radio: “It’s possible that Euro 2020 will be played solely in England.” But yesterday, in a statement issued to The Times, Uefa insisted that no such alternatives are under consideration. “Uefa is committed to holding Euro 2020 across 12 European cities, according to the schedule agreed last summer,” a spokesman said. “There are no other plans being pursued.” That position was being echoed by senior sources at the FA who insist it would be “logistically very difficult” at this late stage to attempt to host a major international tournament. The cooperation of a number of Premier League clubs would be required, and the FA considers it far too late in the season to be starting negotiations to access their stadiums this summer. Not least because most clubs, given the short close season last summer, will be looking to relay their pitches once the present campaign has been concluded. No contingency plans have been agreed with English clubs to use their stadiums. Beyond that, senior football insiders say, are a number of logistical issues that would make it “very challenging” for Uefa to alter its plans. Across the 12 host countries, training grounds have been identified for the participating teams, hotels have been allocated, travel plans have been made and sponsorship deals agreed. “Changing now would come at a huge cost to Uefa,” said one source, who also pointed out that Uefa is managing to organise the Champions League and Europa League, despite the need to move fixtures to different venues. Uefa officials are assessing how many fans will be allowed to the games, with Glasgow and Dublin said to be proving the most problematic due to the cautious attitude of their governments in dealing with the pandemic. Scotland’s SNP leaders are said to be particularly intractable and it is understood they have proposed the lowest number of fans of any host city. Uefa remains hopeful the issues can be overcome and the need to shift their matches, perhaps to Wembley, can be avoided.
BREAKING-NEWS ! A tweet of Alessandro Alciato, a very serious journalist from Sky Italia: it's almost sure that Glasgow, Dublin and Bilbao won't host EURO. 1367087804879171588 is not a valid tweet id
Oh joy, UEFA put out another statement that the plan is still having all twelve countries host. I completely believe that the Sky Italia reporter above (and he is not alone) isn't just making it up, so I am relatively confident that UEFA knows that countries are considering dropping out. Unless the plan is something like switching Bilbao to Lisbon or Glasgow to Paris or Dublin to Zurich as examples, the fact that they are keeping up the charade that all twelve venues will host with such insistence is so worthy of an eye roll. Especially when that story came out that if Dublin cannot have fans, they cannot host. The fact that no other plans are being pursued is completely laughable too.
Bit ironic that when we've finally got a chance to finish of this slippery little virus, my optimism of the tournament going ahead is at its very bottom, at least in a form that I want to take part in. Wish I'd taken the money back in January, can't see it being anything other than some made for TV compromise to save UEFA from bankruptcy.
That's exactly how I feel. UEFA really soured me on this and I was quite optimistic as we turned over to 2021. I'm about 90% sure if they offered refunds again this week, I would turn the rest of mine in and be done with it all. Especially because I can imagine that even if I was allowed to go, I am just going to get murdered by airline ticket prices (even though I have vouchers) and hotel prices to stay in Europe somewhere undetermined as of now between matches.
I don't know if it matters though because if it becomes a made-for-TV event then they'll have to refund you anyway. Personally, I'm still glad I kept most of my tickets. Nothing to lose by hanging on to them. Maybe not alot to gain either but if they are able to have 30-40% capacity then I'm assuming that ticket holders will have a decent chance of getting in.