The mayor of the metropolis of Liverpool, Steve Rotheram, called Thursday an investigation into the role that could have played the match of the champions of soccer on March 11 between Liverpool and Atlético Madrid, on the diffusion of the coronavirus in its city.
"If the contamination is the direct result of this match, well it's scandalous"
The match took place in a full Anfield Road stadium, with 52,000 spectators including 3,000 Spaniards, while at the same time LaLiga, the Spanish professional football management body, had decreed that the matches should take place in camera closed.
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"If the contamination of people by the coronavirus is a direct result of a sporting event which, in our opinion, should not have taken place, well it is scandalous," declared the elected Labor representative to the BBC. "There must be an investigation into this to see if some of these contaminations are directly due to supporters of Atlético," he continued, recalling that Madrid was one of the most affected by the virus.
Cheltenham races also concerned
"It has to be verified and the government has to admit part of the responsibility for not having ordered the containment earlier," said Rotheram. Boris Johnson's conservative government has explained that it had only followed the advice of scientists by letting this match run normally or other sporting events, such as the horse races at Cheltenham, which had gathered 150,000 people out of four days, the same week.
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On Monday, British government deputy science advisor Angela McLean called the idea that the match caused contamination known to be an "interesting hypothesis." In this match, the Spaniards won 3-2 after extra time, eliminating the Reds, who were defending champions, at the knockout stage of the Champions League.
Champions League: Released by Atlético in overtime, Liverpool will not defend their title any longer
- Atletico madrid
- Liverpool
- England
- Spain
- Soccer
- Coronavirus
- Sport