English FA plead with government to stage Iceland clash at Wembley

The British Football Federation has asked the British Government to allow the final of the UEFA League of Nations against Iceland in Wembley next Wednesday, as planned.

Negotiations between the FA and senior government officials will continue on Thursday to examine whether the current coronavirus regulations banning Icelandic players and staff from entering the United Kingdom will be enforced.

– UEFA League of Nations on ESPN+ : Streaming LIVE games and playback (US only)

The government refused entry into Denmark to all non-British residents who were in or had travelled through the country within 14 days of the discovery of a new COVID 19 strain in Danish mink farms. Iceland will play Denmark on Sunday in Copenhagen.

The following matches will be broadcast live on ESPN+ (USA) :

THURSDAY, BEGINNER. 12
– Guangzhou Ever c. Jiangsu Sun (6.30 ET)
– England vs. Ireland (14,50 ET)
FRIDAY, NOV. 13
– Bolton vs. Salford (14.40pm ET)
SATURDAY, NEW. 14
– Sunderland against MK (ET 9.55)
– Portugal against France (ET 14.35)
– Germany against Ukraine (ET 14.35)
– Switzerland against Spain (ET 14.35)

The Ministry of Digital Affairs, Culture, Media and Sport has confirmed that the policy will not be reviewed until Saturday, but the expectation is that by then the government will inform the federation whether elite sport is exempt from tax.

Germany has been declared a possible neutral target, unless the rules are relaxed, so that England can avoid a failure in the game.

We have asked the government to consider allowing us to organize the last match of the UEFA League of Nations in the stadium of Wembley and grant the Icelandic team a travel waiver, which is subject to strict medical protocols, said a spokesman for the FA. The Icelandic team will play against Denmark in Copenhagen and will therefore be subject to a travel ban.

While in Denmark they are subject to the strict UEFA sports bladder protocol and undergo a PCR test before travelling to England. The PCR test selects the Group 5 option.

We agreed with the Icelandic team that she will arrive at a private terminal with a private charter plane and that she only has access to her hotel and stadium. We will introduce additional tests in addition to the many tests normally required for each participant and employee in the game.

We are not asking for this support to give us a home advantage in this very competitive international game, although it would certainly help. We are not asking for this support to avoid the enormous costs of an English home game in Germany, although we cannot afford a financial penalty at this stage.

Health must be a priority and that is why we ask for this support. We believe it is in the interests of the English team and English support staff to play at Wembley Stadium instead of travelling to that stadium abroad – and then play a match under the same UEFA protocols against the same opponent but in a different country.

We understand the emergence of exclusion at a time when industries such as transport companies are not allowed to travel to Denmark. However, international footballers are among the most reliable people in the world, and we will even carry out additional tests to go beyond the highest standards.

We call on the government to follow the advice of its public health experts on the safety of gambling in the UK and we believe that the derogation is justified and in the interests of the UK team. We hope that the government can help us in these difficult times so that everyone can play the game as safely as possible.

UEFA confirmed to ESPN that if England had not been able to hold the match on time or had moved to Germany, this would have been considered a breach of its installation obligations and would have lost 3-0.

Due to the current schedule it is not possible to postpone the match to a later date. All lights of the League of Nations must be installed in this window.

An automatic defeat will almost certainly decide whether England qualifies for the knockout phase or not, as they are third in Group A22 and will meet the Belgian leaders in Brussels on Sunday.

Only the group winners reach the semi-finals. The team level is then divided based on the goal balance. So a 3-0 defeat means that England needs a big victory in Belgium to have any chance of progress.