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Parliamentary majority wants more spectators at Denmark’s Euro 2020 games

Arzia Tivany Wargadiredja
June 7th, 2021


This article is more than 3 years old.

Historic match will be seen by a limited number unless there is intervention

UEFA has had the final say on England’s decisive penalty win against Denmark (photo: Dmitrij Nejmyrok)

People say that no other sport can unite people like football. Well, maybe not this time around, folks.

It is less than a week until Denmark’s first match in Euro 2020, and it has already divided the people on whether it may be possible to allow more in the stadium.

A parliamentary majority backs allowing more people into Parken stadium to watch Denmark’s three group games, along with a last-16 encounter featuring unknown teams.

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, there are only 15,900 seats available for the matches – less than half the stadium’s capacity of 38,065.

MPs in favour
“We want more spectators to come. It is a huge event that will not happen again,”  Venstre’s spokesperson for sport, Sten Knuth, told DR.

Following the successful reintroduction of crowds at Superliga games, other party members also support allowing more people into the stadium, provided they stick to the current health authority’s recommendation.

“I think we have been able to see that it has been a success with the matches in Superliga. So why not consider more spectators at the European Championship matches, which is a historic event,” said Radikale’s spokesperson for such matters, Kristian Hagaard.

Potential super-spreader event
However, while most MPs support an increase, the health authorities believe it is too risky. 

Leading epidemiologist Lone Simonsen was among those who advised the government to limit the numbers to 15,900, and she remains adamant that it is the right number.

“We cannot ensure there won’t be infected people in the stadium, particularly when you you admit people who have been tested within the last 72 hours,” she told DR.


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A survey carried out by Megafon for TV2 has found that 71 percent of parents have handed over children to daycare in spite of them being sick.

Moreover, 21 percent of those surveyed admitted to medicating their kids with paracetamol, such as Panodil, before sending them to school.

The FOLA parents’ organisation is shocked by the findings.

“I think it is absolutely crazy. It simply cannot be that a child goes to school sick and plays with lots of other children. Then we are faced with the fact that they will infect the whole institution,” said FOLA chair Signe Nielsen.

Pill pushers
At the Børnehuset daycare institution in Silkeborg a meeting was called where parents were implored not to bring their sick children to school.

At Børnehuset there are fears that parents prefer to pack their kids off with a pill without informing teachers.

“We occasionally have children who that they have had a pill for breakfast,” said headteacher Susanne Bødker. “You might think that it is a Panodil more than a vitamin pill, if it is a child who has just been sick, for example.”

Parents sick and tired
Parents, when confronted, often cite pressure at work as a reason for not being able to stay at home with their children.

Many declare that they simply cannot take another day off, as they are afraid of being fired.

Allan Randrup Thomsen, a professor of virology at KU, has heavily criticised the parents’ actions, describing the current situation as a “vicious circle”.

“It promotes the spread of viruses, and it adds momentum to a cycle where parents are pressured by high levels of sick-leave. If they then choose to send the children to daycare while they are still recovering, they keep the epidemic going in daycares, and this in turn puts a greater burden on the parents.”