England given special permission by UK Government to play Iceland at Wembley next week, despite travel ban preventing their opponents arriving from Denmark as Twitter slams the decision as an ‘absolute f****** joke’
- England will be allowed to take on Iceland in the Nations League next week
- The Three Lions’ opponents will be travelling from group rivals Denmark
- The FA pleaded with the UK Government to allow Iceland to travel to London
- Twitter users have criticised the Government for letting the game go ahead
England have been granted permission by the Government to play against Iceland next week despite the Three Lions’ opponents travelling from Denmark where there is a travel ban.
The Football Association pleaded with authorities last week to grant their opponents permission to travel to the UK from Denmark, where they play their previous Nations League match on Sunday.
The Three Lions’ opponents will now be allowed to travel to London ahead of next Wednesday’s match despite the travel restrictions put in place due to a new coronavirus strain spreading from mink to humans in Denmark.
The UK Government have allowed Iceland to travel to London to face England next week
Iceland will take on Gareth Southgate’s Three Lions at Wembley (above) on Wednesday night
It’s understood that the strict terms of the deal for the Iceland team mean they will have to fly in to a private airport on a private aircraft and maintain themselves in a bubble away from anyone else while in the UK. They will also have to undergo a heightened testing regime with more frequent checks for the virus.
A statement from the Department of Transport on Thursday said: ‘The government has also announced a limited exemption for a small number of Danish and Icelandic national football players to travel from the UK to Copenhagen and back, without the need to self-isolate, to take part in upcoming international football fixtures.
‘This temporary and extremely limited exemption will allow the relevant players and essential staff support to be exempt from the new requirements and will help reduce any disruption for England’s up and coming Nations League fixtures.’
An FA spokesman added: ‘We are pleased to confirm that following discussions with the relevant authorities next Wednesday’s UEFA Nations League fixture against Iceland will go ahead at Wembley Stadium.’
Iceland (left) will be travelling to London from Denmark as they have a match there on Sunday
Before the decision was made by the Government, the FA released a statement outlining the plans they had to accommodate Iceland travelling from Denmark, irrespective of the ban on visitors from the restricted country.
As Sportsmail revealed this week, Germany and Albania had been mooted as potential destinations for the fixture if it were not allowed to go ahead in England as planned.
Had this been the case, the FA would have had to fork out extra money to pay extra travel and hotel costs for players despite the situation being out of their hands.
England’s governing body is already facing a £300million loss in this year’s budget due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The English FA announced plans to accommodate the Icelandic team (above) this week
The FA statement read: ‘While in Denmark they (the Icelandic national team) will have been under strict Uefa protocols in a sporting bubble and will be PCR tested before travelling to England. The PCR test picks up the Cluster 5 variant.
‘We have agreed with the Icelandic team that they arrive on private charter to a private terminal and will only have access to their hotel and the stadium.
‘We will also put in place additional testing over and above the multiple tests normally required for each participant and staff at the match.’
Boris Johnson’s Government were criticised by social media users for making the decision
The announcement comes as Transport minister Grant Shapps announced that the travel ban on Denmark will carry on for a further 14 days. Iceland, meanwhile, was one of the countries added to the UK’s Travel Corridor on Thursday.
Several fans have raised concerns about the fixture going ahead due to the health risks it can pose.
One Twitter user said: ‘Yeah, I guess the virus will know not to transmit to anybody since it’s for a football match. Why on earth are we still playing international football?’
The Government, led by Boris Johnson, were the target of some social media users’ complaints for approving the game to go ahead.
Several Twitter users vented their frustration at the Government for letting the game go ahead
One person tweeted: ‘Disgraceful. Absolute ******* joke @Boris Johnson @MattHancock. If you can change rules for footballers then ******* do it for the rest of us’.
Another said: ‘Moving the goal posts lol one rule for all @BorisJohnson’
England travelled to Iceland in September for the return Nations League fixture, which the Three Lions won 1-0.
Before taking on Iceland on Wednesday, Gareth Southgate’s side will take on the Republic of Ireland in a friendly on Thursday evening before travelling to Belgium for another Nations League game on Sunday.