Italy’s prime minister wants the Euro 2020 final to be moved from Wembley Stadium because of Britain’s rising coronavirus infections.

Mario Draghi said he wanted the game to be held in Rome rather than in London.

“Yes… I will try to stop the final being held in a country where infections are rising quickly,” he said.

“I advocate that the final should not take place in a country in which the risk of infection is very big,” he said ahead of a meeting with German chancellor Angela Merkel.

Ms Merkel has also expressed concern about the rise in cases of the Delta variant in Britain.

It comes as Italy reported 21 coronavirus-related deaths on Monday and 495 new cases.

On the same day the UK recorded five deaths and 10,633 new cases.

According to Italian news agency ANSA, a source at UEFA said the “English federation and the English authorities are working closely together successfully to organise the semi-finals and the final of Euro 2020 at Wembley and there are no plans to change the venue for those matches”.

Meanwhile, UEFA is in talks with the British government about increasing the attendance at Wembley Stadium to 65,000 for the semi-finals and final.

The government had already agreed to increase the current group-stage capacity of about 22,000 to at least 40,000 for one game in the round of 16 game and the final three matches of the Euro 2020 tournament at the 90,000-seat stadium.

According to the Associated Press, UEFA hopes to increase that further by securing more quarantine exemptions for visitors, including sponsors and VIPs.

A government source said: “We’ve had a number of productive discussions with UEFA and are finalising arrangements with them.

“We look forward to hosting the matches as planned with a large number of fans. An announcement will be made shortly.”

Source: Read Full Article