Football - Denmark v Sweden International Friendly - Parken Stadium, Copenhagen, Denmark - November 11, 2011 General view inside the stadium before the match Action Images via Reuters/Adam Holt/File Photo

TASS - The authorities of Denmark have barred Russian football fans from attending the group stage match of the UEFA Euro Cup in Copenhagen on June 21, Russian sports daily Sport-Express reported on Tuesday.

Alexander Alayev, the secretary general of the Russian Football Union (RFU), has already sent an official letter to UEFA (the Union of European Football Associations) Executive Director Martin Kallen expressing concerns in regard to the Danish authorities’ decision.

Alayev stated in his letter that the Russian Football Union “is extremely concerned about the situation around the impossibility of the entry of the fans of the Russian national team to the game of the group stage of the final stage of UEFA EURO 2020 in Denmark (21.06.2021), who have purchased tickets for the match.”

“Based on the above, we ask you to promptly study the possibility of admitting fans to the match and propose a mechanism of resolving this situation,” Russia’s high-ranking football official added.

The Russian Football Union also voiced its concern over the current situation saying in its official statement on Tuesday that it sent to UEFA on Tuesday a request asking the for the organization’s assistance “in the resolution of the Russian national team fans’ admittance at one of the most important matches in Copenhagen on June 21.”

“The authorities of Denmark have no plans of allowing football fans from abroad at Euro Cup matches, while the Russian side allowed all ticket holders to come to St. Petersburg and it goes not only for ticket holders coming from the countries of the participating teams.”

Russia is set to embark on its journey at the UEFA Euro Cup with the group stage matches against the national teams of Belgium, Finland and Denmark.

On March 17, 2020, UEFA announced it was postponing the 2020 UEFA Euro Cup for exactly one year as a preventive measure against the ongoing global spread of the novel coronavirus.

The championship was rescheduled to be held between June 11 and July 11, 2021 and Russia’s second-largest city of St. Petersburg was picked. It was among the 12 cities initially proposed in Europe to host the European championship’s matches. St. Petersburg was granted the right to host three group stage matches and one of the quarterfinals of the 2020 UEFA Euro Cup.

However, on April 23, St. Petersburg was granted the right to host three additional matches of the UEFA Euro Cup after Ireland’s Dublin and Spain’s Bilbao pulled out of the organization of the European football championship’s games citing anti-COVID-19 measures.

A decision to hold the 2020 Euro Cup, which celebrated its 60th anniversary in 2020, in various European countries instead of in one or two hosting countries was made at the UEFA Executive Committee’s meeting in Lausanne, Switzerland, on December 6, 2012.

Following the pullout of Bilbao and Dublin from the list of the hosting cities of the championship, the rescheduled 2020 UEFA Euro Cup is now set to be staged in 11 cities, namely in London, England; Munich, Germany; Rome, Italy; Baku, Azerbaijan; St. Petersburg, Russia; Bucharest, Romania; Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Budapest, Hungary; Glasgow, Scotland; Copenhagen, Denmark; and Seville, Spain.

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