January 29 – Increasingly concerned about how to manage next summer’s delayed Euro 2020, UEFA has brought in a leading expert in communicable diseases to help with the procedure of somehow letting fans into the 12 stadiums being used for the pan-European tournament.
Daniel Koch, former head of communicable diseases at Switzerland’s Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH), has become medical officer for all matters relating to the coronavirus pandemic when it comes to the multi-city event that is causing UEFA such a headache
“Koch has extensive experience in the field of public health and communicable diseases,” said UEFA president Aleksander Čeferin. “His expertise will be invaluable when it comes to helping UEFA, the host associations and the host cities find a way to maximize attendance at this summer’s European Championship.”
On Wednesday, UEFA confirmed its commitment to host the European Championship in the 12 cities but delayed decisions on fans until early April.
“I am very optimistic that we will find the best solutions in close cooperation with all partners involved in order to organise the tournament this summer in a safe way and hopefully for as many fans as possible,” said Koch.
According to The Times newspaper, the most likely scenario is to only allow home supporters into group matches, with limited numbers of travelling fans permitted for the latter stages of the competition.
As a result, the newspaper said, UEFA is considering refunding all tickets already sold and starting the process again from scratch once the various venues have confirmed how many fans will be permitted by their national governments.
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