Eight positive COVID-19 cases came from three football cup matches in England ©Getty Images

Eight positive COVID-19 cases were recorded at three football matches in the United Kingdom held as part of the Government's pilot event scheme, according to a new report.

The infections were reported among the 30,000 people who attended the FA Cup semi-final tie between Leicester and Southampton, the FA Cup final between Leicester and Chelsea and the Football League Cup final - also known as the Carabao Cup - between Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur.

Another six were recorded among more than 10,000 spectators at the World Snooker Championship, as outlined in the report of the first phase of the Government's Events Research Programme (ERP).

In total, there were 28 positive COVID-19 cases in April and May from sporting and cultural events attended by a total of 58,000 people.

The report said 11 of these individuals were "potentially infectious at an event" with the other 17 potentially infected at or around the time of the event.

Fans were last at the British Grand Prix in 2019 ©Getty Images
Fans were last at the British Grand Prix in 2019 ©Getty Images

The ERP is continuing and will allow significantly larger crowds at a number of sporting events over the next month.

For the semi-finals and final of the UEFA European Championship, Wembley Stadium - which hosted the cup matches in phase one - is set to have a crowd of over 60,000, at 75 per cent of the venue's capacity.

The finals of the tennis tournament Wimbledon and Formula One's British Grand Prix at Silverstone are set to have full capacity crowds.

More than 140,000 spectators could be in attendance for the Formula One race on July 18.