England vs Germany Wembley crowd ‘absolutely irresponsible’, German minister claims

The crowd of 41,973 supporters at Tuesday’s game was the biggest in Britain since the pandemic began

Germany’s interior minister claims it was “absolutely irresponsible” for Uefa to allow more than 40,000 fans into Wembley Stadium to watch England play Germany at Euro 2020.

The crowd of 41,973 at Tuesday’s match was the biggest in Britain since the pandemic began and came while the more contagious Delta variant, first found in India, is fuelling a significant increase in new cases in the UK.

Interior minister Horst Seehofer, who is also responsible for sport, was asked about the attendance at the match and the prospect of more fans attending the semi-finals and final at Wembley.

He said: “I think this Uefa position is absolutely irresponsible.”

Mr Seehofer added that he thinks money is driving the decision “and commerce must not outshine the protection of the population against infection”.

He also appealed to Uefa “not to push this off on local health authorities” and said the governing body of European football should say “we don’t want it this way and we’re reducing the numbers of spectators”.