UEFA says no plans to move Euro 2020 final away from London venue.

Italian prime minister Mario Draghi has said he wants the final of the Euro 2020 football tournament to be held in Rome instead of London due to the rising levels of covid-19 infections in the UK, fuelled by the highly contagious Delta variant of the virus.

The premier, speaking alongside German chancellor Angela Merkel at a press conference in Berlin, said he was in favour of moving the Euro final from Wembley to Rome, stating that he will work to ensure the "final does not take place in a country where infections are rising rapidly.”

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However UEFA, European football’s governing body, denies there are plans to relocate the Euro 2020 final, stating: "UEFA, the English FA and the English authorities are working closely together successfully to stage the semifinals and final in Wembley and there are no plans to change the venue for those games."

Gabriele Gravina, the president of the Italian Football Federation (FIGC), has “categorically" denied there are any plans afoot to try and get the match moved from Wembley to Rome.

The comments by Draghi came the same day that the Italian government introduced a mandatory five-day quarantine and compulsory covid-19 screening for all arrivals into Italy from the UK.

• Italy imposes five-day quarantine on UK arrivals

The premier's remarks were welcomed by Rome mayor Virginia Raggi who tweeted: "Move the European final to Rome? We are ready. After the successful opening of UEFA2020, Rome and Italy have shown that they can organise major international events."

In addition to the opening match, Rome has hosted two other Group A games, with a quarter final to be played in the city's Olympic Stadium on 3 July.

On 21 June the UK registered 10,633 new coronavirus cases and five more deaths, according to official daily figures. By contrast Italy recorded 495 new cases and 21 coronavirus-related deaths.

Spostare la finale degli Europei a Roma? Siamo pronti. Dopo successo dell’apertura di UEFA2020, Roma e Italia hanno dimostrato di saper organizzare grandi eventi internazionali. #RomaEuro2020 #EURO2020

— Virginia Raggi (@virginiaraggi) June 21, 2021