Euros 2020 final will still be held at Wembley, says No10 after UEFA row
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PLANS are still on track to host the Euros final at Wembley, Downing Street stressed today, amid a behind-the-scenes row over exempting visiting fans and footie chiefs from isolation.
UEFA bosses want overseas spectators and VIPS to dodge the mandatory 10-day quarantine - and have reportedly threatened to move the match from Britain.
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Tournament organisers are lobbying Government to allow supporters to swap isolation for a 24-hour stop-over with rigorous testing and bubbling.
Whitehall sources this morning said no final decision on exemptions have been made, and Wembley is committed to hosting July's semi finals and final.
Downing Street said today: "No decisions have been taken. But we continue to look forward to putting on the semi-final, and final at Wembley, and we're working closely with UEFA."
PM Boris Johnson suggested some changes may be made to accomodate them and keep the peace.
Speaking to reporters earlier he said: "We will do what we have to do to keep the country safe from Covid, that will be our priority.
"We will be talking to UEFA about what we want and see if we can make some, some sensible accommodations, but the priority obviously has to be, has to public health."
Ultimately, UEFA have the final say on where the game is played, and today suggested there's an alternative stadium ready if they pull the plug on Wembley.
A statement said: "We are in discussions with the local authorities to try to allow fans of the participating teams to attend the matches, using a strict testing and bubble concept that would mean their stay in the UK would be less than 24 hours and their movements would be restricted to approved transport and venues only.
"We understand the pressures that the Government face and hope to be able to reach a satisfactory conclusion of our discussions on the matter.
"There is always a contingency plan but we are confident that the final week will be held in London."
Abandoning Wembley would the devastate 45,000 fans set to fill the north-west London stadium to half-capacity.
It comes as:
- All over 18s can book their vaccines from today
- The PM backed Matt Hancock after Dominic Cummings revealed texts saying he called him "f***ng hopeless"
- Ministers are in talks with football officials about allowing foreign executrices to come over to watch the final - with the PM vowing to make some "accommodations"
- England face Scotland in a huge Euros clash tonight
- Today Mr Cummings called Boris a gaffe machine and said he knew nothing about policy
The Times reports that Hungary has been eyed up as the back-up plan because of its relaxed border measures.
Most travellers to England have to undergo 10 days mandatory quarantine, with the option to test-to-release on day five.
Exempting overseas fans from this could go down like a cup of cold sick at a time when the tough controls are preventing millions of Brits from taking holidays.
Last month, ministers slapped down UEFA chiefs who demanded two thousand VIPs skip quarantine as the price for holding the Champions League Final in Britain.
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Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden told MPs "they wanted to bring a large number of people to the match".
He added: "The Government was unable to give an assurance that we would be willing to vary our quarantine rules in the way they wanted.
"People have made huge sacrifices for this. We would expect people entering the UK, except in very exceptional circumstances, to observe the quarantine."
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If ministers let chiefs and other foreign fans skip quarantine to attend the match, there will likely be a huge backlash from Brits.
Many thousands of people have to isolate when returning home from amber and red list countries thanks to the recently-introduced traffic light system.
