A group of Croatia fans were left disappointed after their private plane was turned away from touching down in Scotland.
The supporters had bought tickets to see their country take on the Czech Republic at Hampden on Friday but ended up watching the game over 1,300km away in Prague.
Their jet, which they had booked to travel to Glasgow from Zemun Airport in Serbia on Friday morning, was refused permission to land at Glasgow Airport, reports Glasgow Live.
The superfans had been "crazy with happiness" at the thought of cheering on Luka Modric but were delivered a blow when the pilot told they couldn't touchdown in Glasgow due to current covid rules, Prague Morning reports.
The disappointed group - which included Sebastian Jagic Njare, his brother Simo and friends Domagoj Raljevic and Luka Vojvodic - headed to the Czech capital to catch the EURO 2020 clash instead.
Sebastian told Croatian paper Zadarski : "We rented a private plane to go to watch the Croatia-Czech Republic match in Glasgow. We already had tickets and were crazy with happiness, it’s a Czech company, and we got a discount – it was easier to agree with them than with our women to let us go.
“When we arrived over Scotland, the pilot told us that he had just been informed that we had to leave Scottish airspace because due to the pandemic, they were not allowing us to land and arrive."
The Croatia fan added: “We were thinking in the air, on the plane, where to tell the pilot to take us. And we decided to ask permission to enter the Czech Republic. And here we are in Prague, we watched the game there, with Czech fans.”
“It’s no small thing to collect so much money and beg our women to let us go. And then we can’t go to the game!”
Croatia is currently on the UK's amber travel list, which means there are strict rules in place for those arriving in Scotland.
Travellers must complete a passenger locator form, take a Covid-19 test before setting off and book and pay £170 for day two and eight travel tests too, while isolating for ten days on arrival.
