UCL final: Porto locals lash out at authorities for lax in COVID norms

Locals of the Portuguese city of Porto, which is hosting the UEFA Champions League final, are frustrated by the government’s last-minute decision to relax COVID-19 rules. The blockbuster encounter will be held at the Estádio do Dragão stadium in Porto on Saturday local time (Sunday, 12:30 AM IST). 

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The locals complain that the English fans didn’t follow COVID-19 norms and packed Porto’s riverside bars on Friday night, Reuters said. The fans, supporting Manchester City and Chelsea, were not wearing masks.

The final was originally scheduled to take place in Istanbul and was shifted to Porto to allow English fans to travel to the match under COVID-19 restrictions.

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Portugal’s government had said that the English fans must fly in only on the day of the match, stay in a bubble and fly home straight after the game.

However, on Thursday the authorities dropped the or fans to stay in bubbles and lifted restrictions.

This move by the government has frustrated the locals, who fear that the city will see a spike in coronavirus cases and the entry of a much contagious variant, Reuters reported. Football fans in Porto were not allowed in the stadiums for months and now seeing the foreign ones being allowed upsets them.

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“If they open (the stadiums) for the English, they should open (them) for all,” Reuters quoted an Alexandre Magalhaes. 

“If these (new rules) are true I will not comply with any more lockdowns,” one Twitter user wrote.

“This is a shame for everyone who continues to comply with health rules,” another one said.

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The English fans were asked to wear a mask in crowded areas. But the police officers on the ground did not enforce this rule.

“Authorities said they could not stop fans moving around because British tourists are now allowed in and out of Portugal if they present a negative PCR test,” the Reuters report read.