Senior MPs and public health experts have blasted 'pointless' and 'ridiculous' UEFA plans to expose thousands of Manchester City and Chelsea fans to an increased risk of Covid by keeping the Champions League final in virus-ravaged Istanbul.
Turkey – currently in a lockdown set to end on May 17 – has a Covid infection rate 12 times higher than Britain's, with 370 new cases per million people announced yesterday, compared to just 30 in the UK. Likewise, there were 31,200 more positive tests confirmed on Tuesday, alongside just 2,000 in the UK.
The concerning numbers, along with the logistics of the final being contested by two English teams, sparked calls for it to instead be hosted at London's Wembley Stadium.