Covid fears over Manchester City fans' Carabao Cup final Tube journey

Hundreds of Manchester City fans are to be put at “avoidable” risk of catching and spreading coronavirus by being told to use the London Underground on the day of the Carabao Cup final, Telegraph Sport can reveal.

Despite special trains being chartered from Manchester through Wembley Central station the capital for what is the first mass movement of football supporters from one part of the country to another since the first national lockdown, the trains will terminate at Euston station, with those aboard then directed on to the Tube for onward travel to Wembley Stadium.

The plan, which will see hundreds of visitors from Manchester placed in a confined space alongside London residents, has provoked alarm from City supporters, local councillors in Brent and public health experts.

City this week announced the ticketing arrangements for next Sunday’s match against Tottenham Hotspur, which is part of the Government’s Events Research Programme.

That included details of chartered trains and coaches the majority of their 2,000 fans attending the game must use to travel to it. But strict protocols aimed at keeping those taking in part in the pilot – and those they encounter – safe are in danger of being undermined by plans currently in place for the 750 City supporters travelling by rail.

“Those 750 people are potentially under threat,” Kevin Parker, general secretary of the Manchester City Official Supporters Club, told Telegraph Sport. “They may catch Covid on the Tube.”

Councillor Neil Nerva, Brent’s lead member for public health, culture and leisure, said: “What is the point of good organising for a two-hour train journey if you then bring people somewhere they all have to stand cheek-by-jowl?”

Citing the risks posed by such a plan, he added: “It’s avoidable cross-infection and the inability to maintain social distancing on the London Underground.”

Cllr Nerva said there were more Covid-secure transport options, adding: “It’s disappointing that Wembley Central and Wembley Stadium stations are not being utilised as places which fans can travel to directly.”

Professor John Ashton, the former director of public for north-west England, branded the current plan “half-baked”, adding: “This isn’t letting everything rip but it’s letting everything rip slowly.”

Prof Ashton cited London’s cluster of cases of the South African variant of the virus, a variant that may reduce the effectiveness of the AstraZeneca vaccine. The use of the Tube by hundreds of visitors from Manchester could lead to a surge in that variant in the north-west.

Prof Ashton said: “If we’re not careful, we’ll finish up in a situation in October where we’re back to square one.”

All those attending the Carabao Cup final must produce a negative Covid-19 test up to 24 hours before the match kicks off, with City fans travelling by coach and rail having to do so before they leave Manchester.

As part of the pilot, they must also agree to take a second test five days after the game but that will not prevent them spreading the virus in the interim.

Crowd plans for Carabao Cup final come under fire from disability groups

The Carabao Cup final has been engulfed by accusations of discrimination and poor treatment of fans as plans for the return of crowds were condemned by supporters’ groups.

The announcement of ticketing arrangements for the first major UK football final with spectators since the coronavirus pandemic began provoked a major backlash after the clinically extremely vulnerable were told to stay away from the match.

Pregnant women and anyone living with someone in either of those groups were also told not to apply for tickets for next Sunday’s game between Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur at Wembley, while children were banned altogether from attending a fixture chosen to be part of the Government’s Events Research Programme.

That programme, which includes Sunday’s FA Cup semi-final between Leicester City and Southampton, next month’s final and the World Snooker Championship, has been deliberately designed to exclude the clinically extremely vulnerable from what are controlled experiments.

SpursAbility, Tottenham’s disabled supporters’ club, said in a statement: “The policy adopted for this match is a direct discrimination toward many disabled supporters including those with access requirements based on a direction with no scientific evidence to back up this approach and there is no longer a Government requirement to shield.

“Returning to live matches again is the lifeline needed by many disabled supporters to maintain their mental health after long periods of forced isolation, yet they are being precluded on outdated advice and a broad-brush approach open to abuse in so many ways.”

Those sentiments were echoed by Level Playing Field, the national charity which represents disabled sports fans, while the Tottenham Hotspur Supporters’ Trust, Manchester City Official Supporters Club and City fan body 1894 Group also denounced the ticketing arrangements.

Criticising their own lack of involvement in devising plans for the final, they questioned why both children and City supporters living outside the North West and South East of England had been banned from attending, which they said was based on “inaccurate assumptions about where fans live”.

They also cast doubt on the scientific value of an experiment that will see half of the 8,000 crowd made up of local residents and NHS workers, which they warned risked ticket touting.

They added in a joint statement: “The biggest insult of all is that, alone among all those attending, the few fans of the competing clubs lucky enough to get a ticket to be part of a research project will be charged up to £50 each for the privilege.”

Claiming the selection of the match as a crowd pilot had been driven by “political grandstanding”, they concluded: “It’s another missed opportunity, and another clear indication of how fans are viewed.”

A DCMS spokesman said: “These pilots are the first steps to helping all members of the public safely back to mass events.

“While they were designed to be as inclusive as possible, we have been advised that it would not be suitable on health grounds for the clinically extremely vulnerable to attend such pilot events and potentially be put at greater risk of transmission.”

What is the Events Research Programme?

The ERP is a Government pilot project that is examining ways of getting large crowds back into sporting and other events following the coronavirus crisis without the need for social distancing.

What sporting events are part of it?

So far, just one FA Cup semi-final and the final, the Carabao Cup final, and the World Snooker Championship. Attendances are being scaled up as the programme progresses.

Who can attend?

Adults only who are not pregnant or clinically extremely vulnerable - or do not live with someone in those two groups. Anyone attending must agree to take a Covid-19 test before and after the event in question so its impact on transmission rates can be monitored.

When can other sporting events have crowds?

From May 17, any large outdoor seated event will be able to host a crowd of 10,000 or 25 per cent capacity, whichever is lower. Indoor events will be limited to 1,000 people or 50 per cent capacity. These events are currently scheduled to be staged under the same protocols as those allowed spectators at the end of last year, rather than under the ERP. That would mean a negative Covid-19 test would not be required to enter but anyone with symptoms would be told to stay away.

When will we see Covid passports?

Probably not until the start of the new football season.