Uefa plans for fans at Wembley clash… but not Scotland fans
Scotland fans face being locked out of Wembley for this summer’s European Championship group match with England – even if crowds are allowed to attend.
The Auld Enemy clash, scheduled for 18 June, has been a red letter day for the Tartan Army since qualification was secured against Serbia in November.
However attendance at the game – and the other two group stage matches at Hampden – is still up in the air with the on-going coronavirus pandemic and travel restrictions combined with the knock-on effect for football, large-scale gatherings and the tournament itself.
Organisers Uefa this week re-iterated their commitment to staging the competition, as planned, this summer – shared between 12 host cities across the continent, including Glasgow. But they could implement a change of rules that prevents supporters travelling to ‘away’ games in the group stages – and that would
mean the Tartan Army being locked out of Wembley for the Group D encounter.
Tournament officials reportedly discussed new measures at a meeting earlier this week and hope the proposal early in the tournament could persuade governments to allow at least partial crowds and increased attendances to include both sides’ supports in the latter stages.
The expectation is that the tournament can still go ahead with teams travelling around the host cities in bubbles – but the question over fans differs from country to country and is dependent on rules in place at the time. Of the 12 host countries, nine national teams have qualified for the competition, which in itself reduces some travelling requirements.
Hampden is earmarked for four matches including Scotland’s two ‘home’ games against the Czech Republic and Croatia either side of the trip to London.
Banning away supporters would see Uefa refund more than 1.5million tickets already purchased.however,scotland fans have not yet been given the chance to buy up briefs after their late entrance to the competition via the dramatic penalty shoot-out in Belgrade.
The tournament kicks off in Rome on June 9.