Manchester Evening News

Hopes that more fans will be able to see Euros

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UEFA will allow host cities to ‘upscale’ plans for supporters to attend Euro 2020 matches should conditions around the coronaviru­s pandemic improve, the PA news agency understand­s.

The European governing body asked for the 12 host cities including Glasgow, Dublin and London - to submit their proposals on how many fans they expect to be able to accommodat­e by last night.

The UK Government has announced plans for a number of test events - including a 21,000 crowd for the FA Cup final on May 15 - with a view to having Wembley full for at least some European Championsh­ip games.

Wembley will see England open their Group D campaign against Croatia on June 13, before then welcoming Scotland on June 18 followed by the Czech Republic.

The national stadium is also set to host one last-16 game as well as both the semi-finals and then final on July 11.

On Tuesday, Scotland First Minister Nicola Sturgeon was optimistic there would be a ‘reasonably good number’ of supporters at Hampden for matches against the Czechs on June 14 and then Croatia eight days later.

Dublin, meanwhile, has three Group E games, involving Poland, Slovakia and Sweden, as well one of the ties in the knock-out stage.

There is some uncertaint­y, though, as to whether the Aviva Stadium will be in a position to accept fans due to travel restrictio­ns and limits on mass gatherings.

An Irish Government spokesman said assurances on minimum spectator levels could not be currently provided.

The Italian Football Federation, said it had been told that Rome’s Stadio Olimpico would be able to welcome spectators.

Following the submission­s, a meeting will be held today of the EURO Steering Group, which consists of the 12 national associatio­ns and UEFA.

Once hosts have submitted the scenarios, they will be allowed to come back to UEFA before April 28 with an increased view on how many supporters they could accommodat­e.

The governing body is understood not to be pushing the deadline back as such, but rather allowing venues to upscale if conditions permit.

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