UEFA Says Testing Puts Football Among World’s Safest Environments

• UEFA, Environment

UEFA said on Thursday it has overseen 61,859 COVID-19 tests since August, allowing for more than 500 European matches to be played and making football one of the world’s safest environments.

The European football body, which has been criticised in the media for pressing ahead with international football during the pandemic, said only 340 of those tests had been positive.

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This was 0.55 per cent of the total, and only three per cent of matches had been cancelled.

“The (protocol) that we put in place is robust and ensures the safety of all those involved, even in these trying times when the pandemic is progressing across the continent,” UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin said.

”It gives us confidence that our competitions will be played as planned.

“It is a tribute to those involved and it demonstrates that matches can be played safely.”

Describing it as a massive cross-continent effort, UEFA said on average there had been 53.9 tests per team, per match, and less than half the positive results had been from players.

“UEFA’s Return to Play Protocol made professional football among the safest environments in the world,” it added.

UEFA said that, since August, it had staged matches in eight competitions.

These are the Champions League, Europa League, Women’s Champions League, Youth League, the Nations League, Euro 2020 playoffs, Under-21 and Women’s Euro qualifiers.