Burkina Faso
Czech Republic
Indonesia
Lithuania
Montenegro
Nigeria
North Macedonia

Covid passports are 'really worth looking at' talkSPORT told, as FA push for 45,000 fans at Wembley for latter stages of Euro 2020

talksport.com, 9 April 2021, 14:28

Covid passports are 'really worth looking at' as attention turns towards getting capacity crowds in grounds for this summer's European Championship.

That's the view of Julian Knight, the chair of the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee (DCMS), with ten of Britain's leading sports bodies - including the Premier League, Football Association, Rugby Football Union and All-England club - backing the move.

It's understood that the FA want 45,000 fans present at Wembley towards the end of Euro 2020, but this will not be possible without some sort of 'assurance process' as per a letter sent to Boris Johnson, Keir Starmer and other party leaders.

To be allowed into sporting venues spectators would need to have a Covid passport, which would record whether they had been vaccinated, recently tested negative or had natural immunity.

And Knight threw his support behind the initiative in an exclusive interview with talkSPORT on Thursday morning.

"It's certainly worth looking at," Knight said in conversation with Jim White.

"I'm not a huge fan of having them in pubs and stuff like that.

"You certainly basically curtail people's daily lives - that makes me feel a little comfortable.

"However these institutions know what they're doing, they want to try and get in as many people [in grounds] as possible.

"They don't want people sat two metres apart from each other - it's half a life isn't it really in terms of sport.

"So if they can put in the infrastructure in terms of the readers they need at the grounds then I think it's really worth looking at."

Knight is of the view that Covid passports could encourage more people to get booster jabs in order to attend such events, with more than four million people in the UK now fully vaccinated.

He added: "It will encourage people to get booster jabs as well. The truth is I think only 40 per cent of people who are actually asked to get flu jabs actually take them up.

"If we have that same percentage with Covid-19 then we are in real trouble. We'll have it again basically, time after time, so we've got to find a way of getting it up.

"One way of doing that is encouraging people by saying this is a really good way of ensuring you make other people feel safe, but also so stadiums are safe for people to enjoy themselves.

Top News

13 March 2025 sportsmole.co.uk Championship title hopefuls Leeds United will be looking to maintain their position at the top of the table when they travel to Loftus Road to face Queens Park Rangers on Saturday lunchtime. 13 March 2025 sportsmole.co.uk Manchester United booked their spot in the quarter-finals of the Europa League courtesy of a 4-1 victory over 10-man Real Sociedad in the second leg of their last-16 contest in the competition on Thursday night. 13 March 2025 talksport.com Bruno Fernandes scored a hat-trick and made Europa League history as Manchester United came from behind to beat Real Sociedad 4-1. 13 March 2025 sportsmole.co.uk Chelsea maintained their flawless record in the Conference League as they defeated Copenhagen 1-0 on Thursday, sealing a 3-1 aggregate victory and booking their place in the quarter-finals. 13 March 2025 sportsmole.co.uk Tottenham Hotspur's hopes of ending a 17-year trophy drought remain alive thanks to a 3-1 win over AZ Alkmaar in the second leg of their Europa League last-16 tie, which sealed a 3-2 aggregate victory. 13 March 2025 sportsmole.co.uk Two sides looking to move further clear of the Turkish Super Lig relegation zone go head-to-head on Saturday as Kasimpasa welcome Alanyaspor to the Recep Tayyip Erdogan Stadium. 13 March 2025 sportsmole.co.uk Two teams looking to bounce back from defeats meet on Saturday as Istanbul Basaksehir host Trabzonspor at the Basaksehir Fatih Terim Stadium. 13 March 2025 sportsmole.co.uk Off the back of a narrow loss to Inter Miami in their last league outing, Charlotte FC will host FC Cincinnati in their latest MLS fixture at the Bank of America Stadium on Saturday evening. 13 March 2025 sportsmole.co.uk Two sides at opposite ends of the Turkish Super Lig table will go head-to-head as Konyaspor welcome Besiktas to the Torku Arena. 13 March 2025 sportsmole.co.uk Gaziantep will be looking to secure three successive victories for the first time this season when they welcome relegation-threatened Kayserispor to Gaziantep Stadium on Saturday. 13 March 2025 sportsmole.co.uk Sporting Kansas City will be looking to snap their run of five defeats from their opening five games when they play host to Minnesota United at Children's Mercy Park on Sunday morning. 13 March 2025 sportsmole.co.uk Everton welcome West Ham United to Goodison Park for a bottom-half Premier League contest on Saturday afternoon. 13 March 2025 sportsmole.co.uk Brentford boss Thomas Frank has revealed that Fabio Carvalho faces an uphill battle to play again this season. 13 March 2025 sportsmole.co.uk Manchester United head coach Ruben Amorim has named Ayden Heaven in his starting side for Thursday's Europa League last-16 second leg with Real Sociedad. 13 March 2025 talksport.com Mauricio Pochettino has told talkSPORT he dreams of returning to Tottenham one day. 13 March 2025 sportsmole.co.uk Chelsea and Copenhagen have confirmed their starting lineups for Thursday's Conference League fixture at Stamford Bridge. 13 March 2025 sportsmole.co.uk Manchester City expert Steven McInerney from Esteemed Kompany believes Pep Guardiola's side will need to score at least two goals if they wish to beat Brighton & Hove Albion in Saturday's Premier League contest at the Etihad Stadium. 13 March 2025 sportsmole.co.uk Santos president Marcelo Teixeira is hopeful that the club will be able to sign Neymar to a fresh contract. 13 March 2025 sportsmole.co.uk Erling Haaland will attempt to set a fresh Premier League record when Manchester City welcome Brighton & Hove Albion to the Etihad Stadium on Saturday afternoon. 13 March 2025 sportsmole.co.uk Former Premier League striker Jermain Defoe has exclusively told Sports Mole he does not believe that Darwin Nunez can rescue his career at Liverpool. 13 March 2025 talksport.com Real Sociedad midfielder Arsen Zakharyan is reportedly unavailable for their second leg clash Manchester United due to visa issues. 13 March 2025 sportsmole.co.uk Barcelona have reportedly reignited their interest in Lille forward Jonathan David. 13 March 2025 sportsmole.co.uk Real Madrid have confirmed that Ferland Mendy is facing a spell on the sidelines with the muscular problem that he picked up during Wednesday's Champions League last-16 second leg against Atletico Madrid. 13 March 2025 sportsmole.co.uk West Ham United could be without up to four players for Saturday's Premier League clash with Everton at Goodison Park. 13 March 2025 sportsmole.co.uk Everton are set to be without five players for Saturday's Premier League clash with West Ham United at Goodison Park. 13 March 2025 sportsmole.co.uk UEFA have revealed that they will "enter discussions" with FIFA and IFAB over a potential rule change following Julian Alvarez's controversial spot-kick in Wednesday's Champions League clash between Atletico Madrid and Real Madrid. 13 March 2025 sportsmole.co.uk Everton manager David Moyes will renew acquaintances with one of his former clubs West Ham United when they do battle at Goodison Park in the Premier League on Saturday afternoon. 13 March 2025 sportsmole.co.uk Brighton & Hove Albion could be without up to seven players for Saturday's Premier League clash with Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium. 13 March 2025 sportsmole.co.uk Manchester City will be without at least four players for Saturday's Premier League clash Brighton & Hove Albion at the Etihad Stadium. 13 March 2025 sportsmole.co.uk Valencia's battle to stay out of the La Liga relegation zone will continue on Saturday night, when they head to Estadi Montilivi to tackle a Girona outfit that are without a victory since the start of February.