UEFA. Impossible to say if increase in cases is associated with Oporto Champions final

  • Lusa
  • 24 June 2021

The city of Oporto was chosen to replace Istanbul as the 'venue' for the Champions League final following the insurmountable travel difficulties for English fans.

UEFA on Thursday said it was impossible to detect whether the epidemic evolution in Portugal was due to the final of the football Champions League, in Oporto, because it took place at the same time of the entry permit for British tourists.

In a press conference at the headquarters of the European football governing body about the mitigation measures of the Covid-19 pandemic implemented during Euro2020, the medical director of the event, Zoran Bahtijarevic, understood that “it is very easy to point the finger at the final” between Chelsea and Manchester City in Oporto.

“In the same week, Portugal started opening [its borders] for British tourists. It’s very easy to point the finger at the final, but to my knowledge, all the fans who travelled from the UK took PCR testing and only entered the stadium with that. I don’t know how many cases are directly related, because a lot happened at the same time and it is impossible to know what it is due to,” the Croatian told reporters.

The city of Oporto was chosen to replace Istanbul as the ‘venue’ for the Champions League final following the insurmountable travel difficulties for English fans, given that Turkey was on the UK’s ‘red list’ due to restrictions imposed in the face of the pandemic.

Thousands of English fans made their way to Porto to watch the final of Europe’s premier club competition at the Estádio do Dragão in an influx that caused heavy crowds in places such as the Ribeira, where clashes were reported and rules such as wearing masks and social distancing were not enforced.

After the end of the game, two English supporters were arrested by the PSP police for having assaulted police officers, which caused one of the officers to have his face stitched at Santo António Hospital.

At the end of the game, about 50 planes with supporters of both teams left Sá Carneiro airport for London and Manchester.