Madrid Mayor calls UCL clash at Anfield a ‘mistake.’ The Coronavirus pandemic has bought the world to a standstill in its wake.
A little over a month ago, football was in full swing despite the coronavirus growing in Europe. Matches went as usual and so did several competitions, including the UEFA Champions League. However, Madrid Mayor has now termed the UCL match between Atletico Madrid and Liverpool a mistake.
Also read: When is the Premier League likely to restart?
Earlier this month, Liverpool council’s director of public health Matthew Ashton said that the match should not have gone ahead. He went so far as to blame it for the rise of the number of cases in the city. Ashton has now been backed up by the Mayor of Madrid Jose Luis Martinez-Almeida.
Madrid Mayor calls UCL clash at Anfield a ‘mistake’
Diego Simeone’s men won the clash 3-2 to eliminate Liverpool out of the Champions league. However, Martinez-Almeida believes it was a ‘mistake’ to allow 3,000 Atletico fans to travel to Anfield despite the country’s growing pandemic last month.
“It didn’t make any sense that 3,000 Atletico fans could travel to Anfield at that time,” Martinez-Almeida told Onda Cero radio. “It was a mistake.
“Looking back with hindsight, of course, but I think even at that time there should have been more caution. From the day before the game the regional government and Madrid council had already adopted important measures on reducing large gatherings of people.”
Football has currently been suspended across the continent and the globe. When asked when fans could return to the stadium to support their favourite teams, Martinez-Almeida said:
“During this spring and summer there won’t be any large gatherings of people in Spain and possibly not into the autumn either. Obviously, the situation won’t be totally under control and there’ll be the risk of another outbreak.
“We’ll have to change our habits, conduct and behaviour even if we can go out onto the street again. I think it will be really difficult to have large-scale events, whether it’s football matches or other sports or concerts, with almost total certainty before the summer. From the autumn we’ll have to study it carefully.”
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