THIS summer’s Euro 2020 tournament will not be screened on the big screen in City Park, Bradford Council has confirmed.

The Council said no matches from the European Championships – which begin on Friday with England’s first game on Sunday – will be shown on the screen in the city centre.

It has encouraged people to support pubs and bars across the district that will be showing the games or to watch the matches at home.

But people are also being urged to remain vigilant of Covid-19 and to follow remaining social distancing rules and restriction that are still in place to stop spread of the virus.

Confirming its decision not to screen the games in City Park, a Bradford Council spokesperson said: “We have taken the decision not to screen any of the football matches from the Euros on the big screen in the city centre this year as we want to encourage people to stay local, stay safe and support their local hospitality venue.

“Pubs and hospitality venues across the district are doing all they can to recover from what has been a particularly tough year for their trade and we want to encourage people to support their local area by watching the matches from there.

“The matches are also being shown on terrestrial TV so people can watch from the comfort and safety of their own home.

“Whichever way people choose to watch and cheer on England we’d like to remind people that Covid-19 still hasn’t gone away and they should continue to follow the rules around washing their hands, wearing face coverings, social distancing, fresh air and not gathering in large groups.”

Euro 2020 kicks off on Friday when Turkey face Italy in Rome – the tournament is taking place a year late after being postponed in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

On Saturday Wales take on Switzerland in Baku, Azerbaijan, while Denmark play Finland in Copenhagen and Belgium travel to St Petersburg to face Russia.

England’s first game comes on Sunday when the Three Lions welcome Croatia to Wembley Stadium at 2pm in front of a limited capacity crowd – all of whom will have to provide proof they have either been fully vaccinated against Covid-19 or returned a negative test within 48 hours before the game.

The continental hosting of the tournament will go ahead as planned, albeit with some host cities scrapped, despite Covid travel restrictions and concerns, with games played in Azerbaijan, Denmark, England, Germany, Hungary, Italy, The Netherlands, Romania, Russia, Scotland and Spain.

England are playing all their group stage matches at Wembley Stadium. The national stadium will also host two last-16 games – one of which will feature England if they win their group – as well as both semi-finals and the Euro 2020 final.