The England loyalists will miss out on the opportunity of seeing their team in action at the quarter-final of the UEFA European Championship 2020. The Three Lions will take on Ukraine on Saturday, 3rd July, at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome.
England defeated a strong German outfit in their round of 16 clash to advance to the quarter-finals of this competition. With many heavyweights already knocked out of the competition, in the likes of France and Portugal, England are now being considered as favourites by many to win this competition.
On paper, they have also got a very favourable run till the final. They will take on Ukraine in the quarter-finals. Andriy Shevchenko’s team will be playing their first ever quarter-final match in the Euros, and on the basis of FIFA World Rankings, they are quite a distance behind England.
Provided England manage to beat Ukraine, which almost everyone expects them to do, they will face either Czech Republic or Denmark in the semi-final, for which England will again return to London.
They have had the privilege of playing all of their matches thus far in front of their fans, at their home soil. However, they will have to travel for the first time to take on Ukraine, and will not have their loyalists to cheer for them throughout the match.
The Italian government has issued stricter quarantine rules regarding COVID-19 since June 21. According to the guidelines, if any person is arriving in Italy from the United Kingdom, or if the person who is coming to Italy has been in the United Kingdom in the last 14 days, he will have to serve a minimum quarantine period of five days before being allowed to roam.
Hence, with the game being scheduled on Saturday, none of the English fans will be able to attend the match even if they left for Italy right after England’s win against Germany. The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office has also advised the fans against travelling to Italy.
Not only will the English fans have to quarantine in Rome, but since Italy is amber-listed by the UK government, the travelling fans will then have to quarantine themselves once again after their return to the nation. The FCDO have also confirmed that “neither the British Embassy nor any part of Her Majesty´s Government are selling tickets for the match,” as per quotes in Sky Sports.
