Austria plays at Wembley – and nobody is allowed to go

Austria’s national football team is playing in the round of 16 of a European championship. Then the opponent is also the four-time world champion Italy. And the game also takes place in the time-honored Wembley Stadium. Ordinarily, dozens of charter planes could be filled. Instead, there are currently – regardless of football – only three scheduled airlines that take off from Austria for London the day before the game. The delta variant of the corona virus makes it de facto impossible for Austrian and Italian fans to abide by the law – and watch the game at the same time.

Entry into Great Britain: In Great Britain – like Italy – Austria is currently on the “Yellow List” as a state. It would not be a problem that every traveler has to be tested in Austria beforehand. Nor that you don’t have to buy cheap tests in advance for the second and eighth day of your stay in the UK – even if you leave earlier. The big problem is the quarantine: Austrian (and Italian) fans should have been in London on Sunday – before the game against Ukraine – in order to complete the five-day minimum quarantine and then test themselves early so that they could go to the stadium on Saturday .

The only exception is the national team itself, which is exempt from the quarantine obligation through the “bubble concept” of the European football association UEFA. The actors are only allowed to move between the hotel and the stadium.

Anyone entering England must always be reachable by phone as there are control calls. The penalty for misconduct is up to £ 10,000. The letters from the British health authorities are extremely harsh – it would not be advisable to oppose them.

As things stand, only Austrians and Italians who live on the island can actually watch the game. The last time we heard repeatedly of negotiations between UEFA and the British government was that. The European football federation is exerting quite a bit of pressure to relax the bans and allow exceptions – yesterday it was fixed that 60,000 fans would be admitted to the two semifinals and the final.

The return journey to Austria: The return journey takes place completely independently of the European football association UEFA and the British Be

endanger. It is important to take a look at the Austrian entry regulations: Great Britain is on the list of “B2 countries” with a high incidence of virus variants.

The Austrian federal government has lifted the ban on aircraft from Great Britain from landing in Austria, but the quarantine obligation still applies – with very few exceptions, for example, relating to medical emergencies. According to the law, the players of the national team would also have to go into quarantine if they return to Austria in order to be free after five days. Therefore, before the friendly international match against England in Middlesbrough at the beginning of June, there was also an exemption from the federal government – which was hard fought for by the FB leaders.

The laws have not changed since then. The FB will have to apply again so that they can land in Innsbruck without any problems after the game.

Tickets are not refundable

If an Austrian football fan has been allocated a ticket for the UEFA lottery, the purchase price will not be refunded. Before the start of the EURO, there was a chance to return the tickets. Anyone who cannot attend the game now, although the ticket is still valid, does so at their own risk.