No matches will be played in the San Mamés stadium in Bilbao during the European Championship, UEFA decided on Wednesday. Due to the strict restrictions in the Basque Country surrounding the corona virus, the city of Bilbao cannot guarantee that an audience can be present. UEFA demands that there is an audience for every match and has now designated Seville as a replacement playing city. Bilbao is not happy with the decision.
Bilbao was designated as one of the playing cities during the European Championship seven years ago. Spain’s three group matches, against Poland, Sweden and Slovakia, would all be played in the Athletic Club stadium, as well as one round of 16. However, those matches will take place at Estadio de La Cartuja in Seville. The organizing committee in Bilbao speaks of a ‘unilateral decision’ by UEFA and will seek legal advice on the matter.
On Monday, host cities of Bilbao, Dublin and Munich were told that they had until Friday to further investigate whether they could host matches with an audience. However, according to the organization in Bilbao, UEFA suddenly announced on Wednesday that the matches will be moved. “But we will not allow them to play games with Bilbao and the Basque institutions,” they wrote in a statement. “We have not read any reason from UEFA, no sporting, social or economic and certainly no reason to do with public health.”
The organization says it has so far spent at least 1.2 million euros on the organization of the competitions. The statement gives the impression that the organization will consider whether these costs can be recovered from UEFA, as a contract has been signed by the European federation, the organization and the Spanish federation (RFEF). Nine host cities have been able to guarantee that the stadiums are filled for 25 percent: Amsterdam, Baku, Budapest, Bucharest, Glasgow, Copenhagen, London, Rome and Saint Petersburg.