The fan zone near the capital's Luzhniki Stadium previously admitted 5,000 pre-registered fans

Moscow mayor Sergey Sobyanin said Friday the tripling of the number of COVID-19 cases in recent days has prompted the need to close the Euro 2020 fan zone and take other preventive measures to stop the virus from spreading.

"I don't want to do but I have to do it," Sobyanin wrote on his blog.

Sobyanin blamed new variants for the sudden spread while the Kremlin cited nihilism and low vaccination rates.