BBC Scotland sports presenter hospitalised with Covid in Germany at Euro 2024

RADIO HOST Stuart Cosgrove has opened up on his nightmare ordeal in Germany after he was hospitalised with Covid during the Euros.

The 71-year-old made the trip over to Germany with the Tartan Army to watch Steve Clarke‘s men take on Group A before they were cruelly knocked out of the tournament in stoppage time against Hungary.

Around 200,000 jubilant Scots were situated in the host country throughout their short campaign in the competition, and they certainly made noise wherever they went – whether it was Munich, Stuttgart or Dortmund.

But it ended in heartbreak for everyone who made the trip as they were dumped out in the final game after a humiliating display over the course of the three group games, following a remarkable qualifying campaign.

However, while it was a devastating finale for all involved, not many could have had a worse end to the tournament than Cosgrove.

The broadcaster, who hosts <a href=”https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/live:bbc_radio_scotland_fm” target=”_blank” aria-label=”BBC Scotland‘s Off the Ball show (opens in a new tab)” rel=”nofollow noreferrer noopener”>BBC Scotland‘s Off the Ball show with Tam Cowan, came down with Covid during his travels and his condition was so serious that he had to be hospitalised.

Cosgrove attended the final match against Hungary and contracted the virus during the trip as he started making his way back to Scotland following the defeat.

He was placed in an isolation unit in Berlin and his return to Scotland was put on hold.

But thankfully it wasn’t too serious for the presenter and he has since recovered.

And he finally returned to the BBC studio today to host his weekend show with Cowan after a long absence due to his condition.

Opening up on his ordeal on the programme, he said: “Basically, I was at Stuttgart for the Hungary game and on the retreat from the Tartan Army, I caught Covid.

“By the time I got to Berlin, where we were flying from, I was hospitalised in an isolation unit there.”

But despite it being a terrible way to end the tournament, Cosgrove has insisted that it wasn’t all bad news for him in Berlin.

That’s because he was given the chance to represent his country due to the virus.

The 71-year-old continued: “But there is one monumental upside to this. The doctor said to me ‘would you like to represent Scotland?’

“It was a proud moment. I was in a frenzy and John Robertson was handing the ball to me!

“They were doing an epidemiology study of the Euros and the idea would be that they were looking at matches where there has been superspreadinf events, or they were looking at particular nations or communities who might have brought the virus with them.

“They were of course focusing on Scotland vs Hungary, and they asked me what other games I had been to, how I’d travelled, whereabouts in the stadium I was.

“But there was just nothing there.”

Cowan then cut his pal off to point out: “You were used as a case study, if you like!”

Cosgrove added: “I was! I was representing Scotland.”

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