The general director of the organizing committee of EURO 2020 in St. Petersburg Alexei Sorokin on Monday, April 19, admitted that Bilbao, Munich, Dublin could be left without holding matches of the European Championship 2020 if they did not provide the necessary permits from the authorities.
According to him, such a decision can be made by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA). Sorokin stressed that everything depends on the number of cities that will not be able to continue preparing for the tournament for one reason or another. So he answered the question about the possibility of transferring the championship matches to other cities.
“Of course, if all three cities – although this seems like a fantastic scenario and it is difficult to imagine – will not be able to host Euro matches, then it will be difficult to distribute such a number of games among the remaining cities and it is quite possible that there will be other cities,” RIA Novosti quotes him “.
At the same time, Sorokin expressed confidence that UEFA is considering various scenarios for upcoming events. The deprivation of the above cities of the possibility of holding the matches of the tournament, according to him, is only an assumption and there is no concrete decision at the moment.
“UEFA is considering various options. Cities that have confirmed 50% or more viewers make sense that they could be considered cities that will receive additional matches. But there was no official appeal or official refusal from the cities, so it is too early to speak, ”he stressed.
In a commentary, Sorokin in a conversation with Sport Express, Sorokin noted that there is no confirmed data that St. Petersburg can host additional matches.
Earlier on the same day, the UEFA Executive Committee announced that it has considered several options for hosting Euro 2020 matches in Bilbao, Munich and Dublin, which have not yet confirmed the admission of spectators to the stands. It was noted that the final decision will be made on Friday, April 23rd.
In the spring of 2020, UEFA announced the postponement of the European Championship to 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic. The tournament will take place from June 11 to July 11 in 12 European cities. The organizers did not change the official name of the tournament – Euro 2020.
To date, nine cities have confirmed the reception of tournament matches with spectators, including St. Petersburg, Baku, Rome, Bucharest, Budapest, London, Amsterdam, Copenhagen and Glasgow. At the same time, volunteers from other countries will not participate in the competition in the Russian megalopolis.