The FA Hopeful Of Having 27,000 Fans At Wembley For Euro 2020

The FA are hopeful of having Wembley Stadium opened at 30 per cent capacity for the Euro 2020 tournament.

According to Martin Lipton from The Sun, the English football governing body have told UEFA they hope around 27,000 supporters will be allowed in at the national stadium.

Even if fans are not permitted and behind-closed-doors football continues, Wembley will play host to seven games in the Euros throughout June and July, including England vs Scotland, both semi-finals and the final.

Image: PA

But after the first phase of the COVID-19 vaccine roll-out saw the target of 15 million jabs reached, there is optimism for the return of supporters at sports events to coincide with the government's gradual easing of restrictions.

The talk is that both the Carabao and FA Cup finals could be used in a trial to prepare for fans being present at the rearranged European Championships this summer.

Up to 10,000 socially distanced fans may be allowed in for Manchester City and Spurs' Carabao Cup final meeting in April and the approach could apply Wimbledon, the British Grand Prix, the Open, England test cricket matches and racing events in the coming months.

Those high up in the FA have been involved in discussions in regards to digital COVID passports for fans, while the possibility of sending COVID tests with match tickets has also been mentioned.

No fans have been at Wembley for club finals or international fixtures in recent times because of the situation with coronavirus.

A select group of clubs did have pockets of fans back for a brief period before the United Kingdom went into lockdown again.

The Premier League do not anticipate fans returning to grounds before the end of the current season, but chief executive Richard Masters is hopeful for things to be much-improved by the time next term rolls around.

"We don't know when fans are going to be allowed back. It's difficult to guess," he told Sky Sports News in January.

"Obviously we're hugely optimistic that by the start of next season the vaccination programme will have returned this country to some sense of normality and we can have fans back from the start of next season.

"If it happens before then, one thing you know is football will be ready to welcome fans back."

Topics: Football News, Carabao Cup, Football, Euro 2020, Wembley Stadium, England, FA Cup

Josh Lawless

Josh is a sports journalist who specialises in football and wrestling. He has been published by Curzon Ashton FC, Late Tackle, Manchester City FC, The Mirror, Read Man City and Manchester Evening News. He provides coverage of professional wrestling and has interviewed some of the biggest names in the field - including the first UK interview with The Hardy Boyz after their return to WWE. He has never sported a pair of Lonsdale Slip-ons, contrary to reports.

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