Irish Examiner view: Covid outcry often misdirected

Criticism of Uefa for the number of fans present at the England v Germany Euro 2020 game overlooks that governments have the ultimate decision on the number of people attending sporting and social events while we still battle Covid-19. 

Fans leave Wembley Stadium following the UEFA Euro 2020 round of 16 match between England and Germany at the 4TheFans fan zone outside Wembley Stadium.

Germany’s interior minister has said it was “absolutely irresponsible” for Uefa to allow more than 40,000 fans into Wembley to watch England play Germany at Euro 2020 on Tuesday. His remarks are a sober assessment of the continuing danger posed by the pandemic and, in particular, the more contagious Delta variant, first identified in India. However, his comments are misdirected. It is the British government, which will allow 60,000 fans in for the semi-finals and final, he should be criticising, as well as Uefa. The British government decides public health policy in the UK; whether Uefa deemed it appropriate to have such a large crowd at Wembley is irrelevant.

The crowd of 41,973 was reported as being the biggest in Britain since the pandemic began and came while the Delta variant is leading to a significant increase in new cases in the UK.