Munich receives approval for 14,000 spectators, all Euro 2020 matches to take place before live fans
On Friday it was confirmed that München's Allianz arena will be permitted to operate at 20-percent-capacity for the three group stage games and one quarterfinal match it hosts in the coming European Continental Championship.
The ruling means that all 11 venues scheduled to host fixtures in the coming tournament will have some fans in the stands.
We'll report the latest plans for all Euro 2020 hosting venues at the conclusion of this article.
The Bavarian city of Munich's Euro 2020 hosting privileges for the coming Euros have not been in doubt for some time. UEFA initially put city and club under some pressure to commit to fan re-entry, but quickly relented when the chaos of mid April's European Super League battle necessitated a fixed alliance with the Bayern München bigwigs.
The ruling means that all 11 venues scheduled to host fixtures in the coming tournament will have some fans in the stands.
We'll report the latest plans for all Euro 2020 hosting venues at the conclusion of this article.
Until today, however, it was not known whether live fans would be allowed through the turnstiles at the Allianz Arena. After weeks of discussion, Munich mayor Dieter Reiter (SPD) and Bavarian governor Markus Söder (CSU) confirmed on Friday that the venue had been approved for the 20-percent-capacity rule in place last September and October.
The capacity cap corresponds to approximately 14,000 fans for the four matches to be held at the Allianz. Public Events in the Bundesrepublik continue to be governed by the stabilizer metric put in place by the country's automatic stabilizer put in place by the Robert Koch Institute (RKI).
The 7-day-incidence incidence rate of new infections per 100,000 inhabitants must be below 100 for events to be considered. It is still strongly recommended that full green lights for events should not be given unless the number is below 35. The latest RKI data places Munich at 26.1.
Bavarian politicians made clear that they still wish to proceed cautiously even with open-air events. Bavarian premier Söder told Germany's Süddeutsche Zeitung on Friday that the cabinet desires a cap of 500 spectators for future Bayern fixtures until further notice, yet opted to make an exception for the Euros.
"The European football championship is a special situation that we have," Söder told the newspaper. The official added that approval remained contingent on strict application of a hygiene/social distancing concept and that the privileges could be revoked in the event of poor execution.
Originally scheduled to take place in 12 cities across Europe, the delayed 2020 Euros will now be held in 11. Group E hosts Dublin forfeited their hosting privileges to Group B hosts St. Petersburg after declining to commit to fan re-entry. Additionally, matches scheduled to take place in Bilbao, Spain in Group E have been moved to Seville.
Here are the latest fan plans for cities hosting matches in the tournament.
Group A
Stadio Olympico, Rome
25-percent-capacity (approx. 17,700 spectators)
Baki Olimpiya Stadionu, Baku
50-percent-capacity (approx. 35,000 spectators)
Group B
Parken Stadium, Copenhagen
25-percent-capacity (approx. 11,200 spectators)
Krestovsky Stadium, St. Petersburg
50-percent-capacity (approx. 34,000 spectators)
Group C
Johan Cruyff Arena, Amsterdam
33-percent-capacity (approx. 16,000 spectators)
Arena Nationala, Bucharest
25-percent-capacity (approx. 13,000 spectators)
Group D
Wembley Stadium, London
25-percent-capacity (approx. 22,500 spectators)
Hampden Park, Glasgow
25-percent-capacity (approx. 12,000 spectators)
Group E
La Cartuja, Seville
30-percent-capacity (approx. 18,000 spectators)
Krestovsky Stadium, St. Petersburg
50-percent-capacity (approx. 34,000 spectators)
Group F
Puskas Arena, Budapest
Full capacity (67,215 spectators)
Allianz Arena, München
20-percent-capacity (approx. 14,000 spectators)
Munich will host Germany's three group stage games on June 15th, 19th, and 23rd. The quarterfinal fixture its scheduled for July 2nd.
All numbers for all venues reported here are naturally subject to change as the tournament draws nearer.