Crowd lift for Lions opener
Africa ready to allow 50 per cent entry to live games
Up to 47,000 fans could watch the first Test match of the British and Irish Lions tour of South Afica at the FNB Stadium in Johannesburg, scheduled for July 24. The South African government is considering a request to allow 50 per cent spectator entry for major events. The capacity at the FNB Stadium is normally 94,000.
hschedule will be revised if players forced to quarantine
The British and Irish Lions’ first Test match against the Springboks could yet be played in front of a crowd of up to 47,000 if the South African government accedes to a request by the country’s leading sports to allow 50 per cent spectator entry for major events.
The South Africa Rugby Union is part of a multi-sport group which is set to press its government next week for supporters to be allowed to return to matches after the country eased its lockdown restrictions at the start of the month.
There is growing optimism in South Africa that further easing of restrictions will be possible after the number of daily coronavirus cases dropped to just over 500 yesterday – 10 times fewer than the current figure in the UK.
The government’s sports ministry has asked the South African Sports Federation and Olympic Committee to make a united case for the sports, including rugby and cricket, who are requesting for supporters to be able to return and outline their proposals for Covid protocols and procedures.
The government’s response will be key to the extent at which the Lions schedule will have to be revised.
The original schedule has the Lions due to face South Africa at the FNB Soccer City Stadium, which has a capacity of just over 94,000, in the first Test on July 24.
If it is ruled that a 50 per cent capacity is possible in a Covid-safe environment, the first Test could be played in front of a crowd which is just below the 48,000 that attended the first Test against New Zealand at Eden Park on the 2017 tour.
The revenue generated by ticket sales would make playing the tour more financially viable.
SARU has forecast that the Lions tour could have a £330million economic impact on the country and it is seen as one of the key sporting events to put their economy back on track.
Without supporters, however, it is almost certain the tour would be limited to one or two venues to
reduce the costs of travel and also creating biosecure bubbles for the teams, with Johannesburg and Pretoria the two bases that are under consideration.
The Lions, however, are also
expected to have a significant input if the schedule has to be revised.
Mark Alexander, the SARU president, told South African media earlier this week that the series would “help to get our economy back on track and help the tourism industry overcome some of the negative effects of the pandemic, and hopefully avoid any more layoffs in that sector.”
Alexander said that Covid safety measures were being put in place for the tour to enable crowds to return and that they had asked the government to allow 50 per cent capacity at stadiums.
The UK government will also have a key influence on the schedule, given that South Africa is currently one of the countries on the “red list” of banned countries.
The Lions will be seeking clarity on whether their players will have to quarantine in a governmentapproved hotel for 10 days.
Given that the Lions must release their players back at the end of tour, a 10-day quarantine may have to be built into the schedule, which could lead to their current eight-game schedule being reduced by at least one or possibly two matches.
If that is the case, the Lions could also consider staging another game in the UK before their departure for South Africa in order to give Warren Gatland more preparation time if he loses a game in the build-up to the Test series. The Lions are already scheduled to play Japan at Murrayfield on June 26.