Premier League may see reduced crowds into next year

Premier League may see reduced crowds into next year

by Joseph Anthony
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Sporting venues in England are unlikely to get the green light to fill to capacity this year and the entire 2020-21 Premier League season could be played in front of reduced crowds, a senior government adviser has said.

The British government announced plans this month to allow spectators at selected trial events to โ€˜stress testโ€™ new guidelines.

Cricket was the first sport to bring back spectators, with 1,000 fans watching a friendly between Surrey and Middlesex at The Oval on Sunday. The World Snooker Championship at the Crucible and the Goodwood horse racing festival are also pilot events.

โ€œI would be very surprised if we could get full stadia back this year,โ€ James Calder, who was part of the cross-sport working group with government and health officials that laid down protocols on the return of sports, told the BBC.

โ€œRealistically I think it probably will need a vaccine and also a high take-up rate of that vaccine before we can really see full capacity stadia.โ€

Calder said it was possible the new football season might be played in front of reduced capacities.

โ€œI think realistically we will be under scrutiny for the next year โ€ฆ and probably for the rest of the season,โ€ he added.

Calder added that experiments were being conducted to determine whether chanting and singing at stadiums might lead to a greater risk of virus transmission.

โ€œNow if there is no massive droplet spread we can keep within the social distancing that weโ€™ve put down for the Crucible and The Oval,โ€ he said.

โ€œBut if it is a problem, then we need to rethink the social distancing within the stadia, and that becomes very difficult.โ€

REUTERS

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