LONDON • Uefa's Covid-19 tsar says there is no question of the European Championship being cancelled or postponed and that fans could yet be allowed to travel internationally to the games.
The quadrennial football tournament was postponed last year due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and has been rescheduled for June 11 to July 11.
"There is no way the Euro will not happen, they will happen," Dr Daniel Koch, Uefa's medical adviser on Euro 2020, told Reuters. "There is no worst-case scenario, there are realistic scenarios and best-case scenarios.
The former head of communicable diseases at Switzerland's Federal Office of Public Health added Uefa will make a decision in early April on the suitability of venues and planned capacities after consulting with the 12 host countries.
But he said the confederation would keep the option in place to allow for fan numbers to be scaled up should the situation allow.
"I think there will be a lot of flexibility at least up until the end of April, a decision must be made at the beginning of April but then there is a lot of flexibility to say, now we can scale up because the situation improved much more than expected," he said.
Uefa has asked the 12 host nations - a first for the tournament - to provide their plans for stadium entry and other issues.
The governing body last year outlined four operational scenarios - for full stadiums, 50 to 100 per cent capacity or 20 to 30 per cent capacity and games behind closed doors.
Asked about the likely percentage of stadium capacity that could be allowed in venues, Dr Koch said: "I think it is much more than we imagine. In the autumn, some countries were at 30 per cent (in grounds), I think it is possible more than 30 per cent.
"It is very, very difficult to forecast. It is not only forecasting the epidemic, it is forecasting the politics. We work hard on an optimistic good way, but how much will be possible? We don't know yet."
The host cities are Glasgow, Dublin, Bilbao, Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Munich, Rome, St Petersburg, Bucharest, Budapest and Baku, with the semi-finals and final set for Wembley in London.
Dr Koch will also not rule out the possibility that fans may be allowed to travel to different countries to attend matches despite existing border controls in Europe.
"It is too early to say. We will see what the situation is and what is the requirement from the different countries but I hope that at least some travelling will be possible because it is not travelling, in the end, that makes the real difference," he said.
"For sure, every country has tried to protect itself but travel restrictions are not the main issue. The main issue is to keep this (virus) bound by detecting the case, finding the connections and have social distancing. But we are confident."
Although the crowds, even in restricted numbers, will be too big for on-site testing centres staffed by medical professionals, he has proposed home-testing and other forms of testing being rolled out to help on that front but admitted that social distancing in venues would still be necessary.
But with the ongoing vaccine roll-outs across the continent and increased natural immunity, he is more positive about the fate of Euro 2020.
"The feeling in Europe is still very sceptical that this pandemic will be in a good shape in June but if you look at the numbers and all the possibilities we have, I think we should plan in an optimistic way," Dr Koch said.
"Because the possibility that the situation is as good as it was last summer is given. At the moment, that is the challenge, to keep up positive thinking and planning for the best and not to fall into the pitfall to only think of worst-case scenarios."
REUTERS
