Fear in Rome for the arrival of English fans and the emergence of the delta variant

Rome, Jul 1- Rome, host this Saturday of the Eurocup quarterfinal match between England and Ukraine, is preparing a special security plan to control the arrival of English fans to the capital, in the face of the emergency due to the significant spread of the delta variant of the coronavirus in the United Kingdom.

Although the English Government has asked the fans of the “Three Lions” to stay home and watch the game on television, 2,500 fans are expected to travel to Rome in the next few hours, in an attempt to get a ticket for the duel. from the Olympic stadium.

English tourists arriving in Italy are obliged to respect a five-day quarantine period, which will prevent them from accessing the Olympic even if they get a ticket.

The Italian Interior Ministry plans to intensify controls at the two main airports in Rome, Fiumicino and Ciampino, and at the Termini train station, to manage the arrival of English fans, register their data and check that they respect the relevant quarantine period.

It will collaborate with the authorities of the Olympic stadium, who will have to carry out careful controls on all fans who have tickets for the meeting, and with whom they will work in the various areas of the capital where it is possible to watch the game on giant screens.

In particular, in recent weeks thousands of fans gathered in the central Plaza del Popolo to follow the matches of the Italian team, which will play its quarter-final in Munich this Friday against Belgium.

An eventual meeting of English fans in the squares, in a period, moreover, in which in Italy the obligation to wear outdoor masks has been removed, poses a high risk of spreading the coronavirus.

The Olímpico can be accessed by a maximum of 16,000 people, 25% of the stadium’s capacity, and up to now, nearly ten thousand tickets have been sold.

In principle, UEFA reserves some 2,500 tickets for each of the two leading teams, in this case England and Ukraine.

Rome lives with fear of the possible arrival of English fans after Scotland registered some 2,000 infections with the delta variant of coronavirus after their fans traveled to London to watch the group stage match against England, which ended 0-0.