The England football team will play against Albania in Tirana on March 28, despite COVID-19 travel restrictions in place.
Since December, all flights between the UK and Albania have been suspended and those that travel via an indirect route are required to quarantine for two weeks. The rules were put in place after the spread of a new variant of COVID-19 that was detected in the UK.
Despite this, the English FA has secured an exemption from the UK government in order to travel and it’s believed Albanian authorities have exempted them from the need to quarantine on arrival. The team will also not have to isolate on thier return to England.
The match is a World Cup qualifier and there had been uncertainty over whether it would take place at all. concerns were raised by the Albanian FA over issues with the pitch at the Air Albanian Stadium in Tirana.
Albania has not confirmed any cases of the UK variant so far although cases have reached over 1100 confirmed each day. Hospitals are at approximately 80% capacity. A number of people have also been fined for failing to self-isolate upon arriving in Albania from the UK.
