Ufa is said to have put pressure – now isolated requirements seem to be reduced before the final: “situation-worrying”

Last weekend, the prestigious British newspaper The Times reported that the European Union had “warned” UFA and pressured them to move the final from London to Hungary.

In Hungary, it has so far filled the Puskas arena, for example, with 65,000 people on site to watch Hungary’s meeting with France on Saturday.

The newspaper reported that the British government was in talks with UFA to provide green light to about 2,500 VIP guests to avoid being isolated after arriving in the country – thus missing out on final match arrangements. In that case, the representatives of UFA, FIFA, politicians and sponsors should not be isolated. Currently, anyone traveling from a yellow or red list of countries must be isolated for the next ten days. All the countries in the European Championship are on the yellow list, except Turkey, which is on the red list.

On Monday, the same newspaper reported that the parties had agreed that Wembley would now have 75 per cent of the stage capacity in the final, and that many (2,500 people) would avoid the need for isolation. Instead of 45,000 spectators, 65,000 are now able to take seats in the 90,000-seat arena.

UEFA has previously chosen to reward cities that have promised to bring spectators to the tournament – for example Sweden have dropped out of the tournament because they could not guarantee spectators for both Bilbao and Dublin, who play in their group matches. On the stand.

Catherine Smallwood holds the title of “Senior Emergency Officer” at the WHO at the World Health Organization. When asked if he thinks UFA highly respects the number of visitors to public health, he responds:

– I do not know. Most importantly, public health is the overall health of both those who go to competitions and those who live around cities. We need to do as much as we can to get out of this. This is the highest priority for the WHO, and we believe it is the highest priority for everyone else, he tells Fotbolsknalen.

In general, how are WHO Vision Tournaments played out in front of such a large audience?
– Considering the situation in Europe is a bit worrying. For example, since April we have seen a drop in cases and epidemics, but we see Govt-19 circling. There is still an increased risk of infection.

– When large numbers of people congregate over a long period of time, the disease can spread to existing ones, but also to communities surrounding this population. There is a risk that this will happen during the European Championship 2020, which we are watching carefully, especially after the delta variation began to spread.

Given the isolated need that is now being reported to be facilitated for a large number of people, it says it has a major role to play in reducing the Smallwood epidemic.

– Isolated rules are important for persons entering the country. If I go to a country and become infected before or during a trip, the risk is much higher, and the risk is much lower if I am in isolation for a period of time. The risk of spreading the disease is reduced. But that’s not all, other things like trials can be used for those who come in. I have not read about the latest news regarding the relaxation of isolated rules. I know some other host cities have relaxed the restrictions, and the WHO’s recommendation is that they be used on the basis of risk analysis.

What do you think of UEFA’s approach to this, which wants to ensure that there are as many people as possible?
– I cannot comment on any proposed action as I have not heard any official comments about the last matches. What is clear is that during our discussion with UFA, they have a very responsible approach, they present a lot of information to the public about the risks and they want to keep the matches as safe as possible. There is always a risk of infection if many people gather in one place. What many have done is reduce the number of spectators at matches, and this is guaranteed to reduce the risks in the arena. We can’t think of stadiums, it’s a lot about what happens outside the stadiums, and it’s not under the control of UEFA.