The German national team will face England at the European Football Championship this evening. Around 40,000 spectators should then be allowed in Wembley Stadium – even though the delta variant of the corona virus is currently rampant among the hosts.
On the day of today’s round of 16 of the European Football Championship between England and Germany, the anticipation for the game increases. But at the same time there is criticism because of the increase in the number of spectators for the Wembley Stadium. Federal Interior Minister Horst Seehofer (CSU) said with a view to the Delta variant, especially in Great Britain tens of thousands of spectators in the stadium are “irresponsible”. In the “Süddeutsche Zeitung”, Seehofer appealed to the European Football Union Uefa and the British government to “correct the number of viewers significantly downwards”. Up to 45,000 fans are admitted this Tuesday evening (6 p.m. / ARD and Magenta TV). For the semi-finals and the final, even 60,000 spectators should be allowed into Wembley Stadium.
Seehofer pointed out that at the European Championship games in Munich, 20 percent of the stadium seats are allowed. This is “a benchmark that could also apply to the other venues, because travel to and from the event must also be taken into account in the concepts.” As Minister of the Interior, the CSU politician is also responsible for sport.
Great Britain is considered a virus variant area because of the delta variant
Because the corona numbers recently rose again in Great Britain due to the delta variant, which is considered particularly contagious, the step is controversial. Germany has classified Great Britain as a virus variant area due to the current Corona situation there, so strict quarantine regulations apply to entries from the United Kingdom.
The Prime Minister of Baden-Württemberg Winfried Kretschmann (Greens) described the fact that the games should even be played in London as “not really responsible”. This would “only be possible with strict adherence to the rules and the distances,” said the 73-year-old to the editorial network Germany (RND). The Uefa and the German Football Association must “urgently ensure that the rules are adhered to. The plan to let even more people into the stadiums, like at Wembley, is blatant,” said the politician.
Fear of Superspreader Event at Wembley Stadium
Some previous pictures gave the impression that the pandemic was over. “That is an absolutely wrong signal,” said Kretschmann. Games in full stadiums and spectators without gaps or masks could turn into a superspreader event. “This carelessness makes me stunned,” said Kretschmann to the RND.
Bavaria’s Prime Minister Markus Söder (CSU) also urged caution. At the Munich venue and in Germany in general, it has “gone well” so far, Söder told “Bild”. They “made a conscious decision to wait until it became clear how the incidences were developing here,” he said, referring to the admission of fans and emphasizing: “I just don’t want it to catch up with us.”
Söder considers it a mistake that more than 55,000 spectators were allowed into the stadium in Budapest. “I would not have done it like that in Hungary, I would not have wanted to answer for it. Football is not worth being the starting point for a superspreader event in that ratio. Enjoying it, yes, but enjoying it sensibly,” said Söder.
EU Commission vice-president Margaritis Schinas also urged Uefa to be careful. The association must carefully weigh up a decision on a European Championship semi-final and a European Championship final in a crowded stadium in Wembley, he said. He recalled that Britain was restricting its citizens’ opportunities to travel and that it needed a “certain symmetry” and proportionality in these decisions.
Criticism of the Corona course of those responsible at the European Football Championship
The Green health politician Janosch Dahmen warned against negligence. “As a health politician and doctor, it worries me equally if, despite the rapid increase in dangerous virus variants, people are held at the crowded football stadiums, often without sufficient distance and mask,” said the member of the Bundestag for the German Press Agency in Berlin.
Dahmen generally opposed the current corona course of those responsible for the EM. “In the meantime even national players of several teams are infected,” he said. “We destroy everything that we have built up in the low number of cases.”
I have been working in the news industry for over 6 years, first as a reporter and now as an editor. I have covered politics extensively, and my work has appeared in major newspapers and online news outlets around the world. In addition to my writing, I also contribute regularly to 24 Hours World.
