Friday 23 April 2021
Lord Mayor disagrees
But no fan guarantee in Munich for the EM?
Despite the confirmation as the venue for the European Football Championship, spectators in the Munich Allianz Arena are by no means guaranteed. Munich’s Lord Mayor vehemently contradicts UEFA on this point. Whether it can be played in front of fans at all has to be checked “at the end of May”.
After the positive decision by UEFA for European Championship matches in Munich, Mayor Dieter Reiter emphasized that there is no guarantee that spectators will be admitted. Unlike the European Football Union (UEFA), the German organizers and political decision-makers are not making any promises that fans will return to the arena in June and July. “I am pleased that UEFA has apparently kindly recognized that Munich is an attractive location even without audience guarantees,” said the SPD politician, understanding UEFA’s decision differently than initially assumed.
It was assumed that Munich – like all other host cities – must now allow at least 14,500 spectators. Reiter is happy that Munich can present four games to one of the eleven hosts of the pan-European tournament, he said. “A week ago I couldn’t say whether it was in front of spectators and how many, and nobody can say that today either. That’s why there have been no audience guarantees to this day.”
Actually, however, this was exactly what UEFA demanded from the host cities – and communicated itself that it had also received this from Munich. “That was probably an optimistic statement from UEFA and the DFB that I can understand,” said the mayor. Politically it is not justifiable to allow football stadiums to be opened permanently, while at the same time children are not allowed to go to school in the pandemic or the restaurants have to remain closed. Reiter predicted that it would not be possible until the end of May to see what was possible from an infectious point of view. “It must be clear by the beginning of June at the latest whether there will be spectators and if so, how many.”
Reiter expressed his thanks to Bayern boss Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, whose return to the decisive UEFA executive committee on Monday “at least didn’t do any harm”. The two had spoken to each other several times this week, said Reiter. “I do think that he advertised. I also think that that was one of the points for the positive decision.”
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