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The Government are hopeful of agreeing a compromise with UEFA regarding travelling fans and VIPs that would enable the semi-finals and final of the European Championship to take place at Wembley as planned.

The tournament organisers admitted yesterday that a contingency plan is being drawn up in case the Government cannot meet their requirements for quarantine-free travel.

It is understood the back-up plan involves moving the latter stages to Budapest, but UEFA have expressed confidence that the matches would remain at Wembley.

Boris Johnson is hoping that Wembley will stay the venue for the last two rounds of the Euros

UEFA are looking at contingency plans if quarantine-free travel to the UK is not possible

Budapest's Puskas Arena is a leading contender to replace Wembley as the host for the final

UEFA opted to take the Champions League final to Porto rather than London last month because of the Government's reluctance to bend their quarantine travel rules, and a similar issue has emerged over the European Championship. 

The Government are willing to accommodate a small number of UEFA's guests and VIPs, but are reluctant to offer a blanket exemption from quarantine to all travelling fans due to the political sensitivity of the issue and fear of angering British voters.

'We'll do what we have to do to keep the country safe from Covid, that's obviously going to be our priority,' Boris Johnson said yesterday. 

'We'll be talking to UEFA about what they want and see if we can make some sensible accommodations. But the priority obviously has to be public health.'

Failing to reach an agreement with UEFA and the loss of the finals would be politically damaging for the Prime Minister, particularly if England reach the latter stages of the tournament and are denied home advantage in the semi-finals and final.

Giving too much ground to UEFA would also lead to criticism of the Government for giving special treatment to the elite, however, a view outlined by Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey on Friday.

The Government will face criticism if England reach the last four but aren't playing at Wembley

Sir Ed Davey has criticised the Government for worrying about how to accommodate VIPs

'It's part of the way this Conservative Government operates — there's one rule for their friends and another rule for the rest of us,' said Davey. 

'We saw that during the pandemic with Dominic Cummings who broke all the rules and didn't pay the price. 

'So often with this Conservative Government, if you're friendly with them, you get special favours. That is not the way to do politics.'