Quarantine restrictions are set to deprive England of support in the later stages of Euro 2020, when the Three Lions will have to play abroad.
Fans are facing up to tough choices about which games to attend, given that international travel will result in periods of isolation with the prospect of missing other matches.
An attempt to watch England play in every round of the competition is now domed to failure, because whether the team finishes first or second in Group D, quarantine arrangements mean that supporters would end up missing a round of 16 game, quarter final or semi-final, or a combination of those three matches, if they leave these shores.
The dream of watching England in EVERY game en route to the final of uro 2020 is doomed
England have four points, meaning their worst-case scenario is to go through in third place
‘Planning travel is seriously complicated,’ admitted Matt Willis, Euro 2020 project manager at Football Supporters Europe, where he manages Fan Embassies in the participating countries. ‘We don’t expect many England fans will go to Copenhagen or Rome as result of quarantine and then having to miss the quarter final or semi-final.’
If England win Group D by beating the Czech Republic on Tuesday night, they will stay at Wembley for the first knock out game, against France or Portugal on June 29, before travelling to Rome for a quarter final against Spain, Sweden or Slovakia on July 3.
England fans would have to miss the round of 16 game if they wanted to gamble on watching the team in a quarter final at the Stadio Olimpico, because the Italian authorities now require people travelling from the UK to self-isolate for five days on their arrival. There are only four days between the matches.
Furthermore, if England won in Rome, diehard fans would then miss the semi final on their return since they would have to self-isolate here for 10 days, and even if they obtained early release by testing negative on days two and five, they would not be out in time to attend the semi final at Wembley on July 7.
In the other scenario, England draw with the Czech Republic on Tuesday night, or possibly lose, and head to Copenhagen for a round of 16 match on June 28 against the runner up in Group E, which will be Spain, Sweden or Portugal.
England will be allocated 4,000 tickets at the Parken Stadium. Fans could go to that game and then – assuming England win – they could but travel on to watch the Three Lions in Saint Petersburg, where the team is expected to face France or Portugal on July 2.
Gareth Southgate’s England are now mathematically guaranteed to reach the last 16 of Euros
Parken Stadium in Copenhagen where England could play their round of 16 match
If England finish second in Group D, they could find themselves in Saint Petersburg, Russia
The Stadio Olimpico in Rome could be England’s quarter final destination if the win Group D
Currently, anyone travelling to Russia from the UK must self-isolate for 14 days, unless they travel via an approved country. The most obvious route would be to fly to Finland, which is on Russia’s approved list and a neighbouring country. A train from Helsinki to Saint Petersburg takes about four-and-a-half hours to cover a little over 200 miles and costs £60.
If supporters navigate that passage, they are still destined to miss the semi-final back at Wembley on July 6, since there are only four days between the St Petersburg and London fixtures and they would be self-isolating again on their return.
Fans must ponder which games to attend if England stay in the tournament
Overseas fans travelling to London face similar challenges, at least for the two round of 16 matches due to take place at Wembley on June 26 and June 29.
‘As it is now, we will have very few travelling fans coming in to the UK,’ said Willis. ‘We are looking at very, very few travelling fans. The absolute majority are residents here in the UK.’
Italian fans, whose country booked their place in the round of 16 on June 26 at Wembley with victory over Wales on Sunday, would have to have left Italy yesterday to obtain early release from quarantine in the UK to attend the game.
The fans of the sides that secure their places for the June 29 fixture on Wednesday would have to fly to London on Thursday to have any chance of satisfying quarantine arrangements.
However, Italian nationals who live in the UK are expected to take up Italy’s ticket allocation, but that will probably not be the case for all participating nations.
According to Football Supporters Europe, Croatia and the Czech Republic have only mustered a few hundred fans for their group matches at Wembley and Hampden Park, so far.
The UK government and UEFA are in discussion over how to manage travelling fans for the semi final and final, with one option to fly supporters to London, bus them to the games, then return them to the airport afterwards,