Spain and Italy to ease rules on going to games

Supporters may be able to attend restart in Italy Premier League looking at next season for crowds

Italy and Spain have unveiled plans to allow supporters back into stadiums to watch their teams play as the Premier League continues to look at a variety of options to do the same next season.

Chief executive Richard Masters confirmed that the Premier League was looking at proposals to allow fans to attend live matches in the 2020-21 campaign, but would not reveal any details.

But in Italy and Spain, where coronavirus cases are on a sharper downward curve, reopening stadiums is already being publicly discussed, with speculation that the grounds will be allowed to open at a third of their normal capacity, with one in three seats occupied, to ensure social distancing rules can be obeyed.

Fans will be heat-tested before entering the stadium to check whether they are showing any symptoms and there will be hand-sanitising stations at every entrance.

Serie A, which is due to resume on June 19/20, four days before the Premier League, is even looking at ways for fans to attend from the start of the season resumption.

“We are reflecting on it, certainly, because it’s only right to take another step forward after the reopening,” said the Lecce president, Saverio Sticchi Damiani.

“I think that, if possible, it would be good to create a rotation between our 20,000 season-ticket holders, obviously blocking the sale of new tickets. We have a 30,000-seat stadium in Lecce, so it would be nice to offer some of our fans – in rotation – a little entertainment, always obviously following necessary precautions and guaranteeing social distancing.”

The Italian government is unlikely to intervene as it has already ruled that events holding as many as 300 people will be allowed to take place in a closed setting such as a cinema or concert hall, with up to 1,000 attending open air events.

The majority of Italy’s coronavirus cases were in the north of the country and the Italians endured a far stricter lockdown as the healthcare system was initially overrun.

The Corriere dello Sport notes that if a seat is 45cm wide, then one in every three could theoretically be filled while allowing for social distancing.

If the same rules were applied in the Premier League, in theory Manchester United’s Old Trafford would be allowed to hold a crowd of around 25,000, Liv

‘It would be good to create a rotation between our 20,000 season-ticket holders, blocking new sales’

erpool’s Anfield’s capacity would be reduced to around 18,000 and Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium could take around 20,000.

These would have to be made up entirely of home fans, chosen for each fixture via a ballot or on a rota, as the police would not accept away fans travelling to and from games.

In Spain, the long-term plan may well be even bolder, with reports that La Liga will open stadiums to 20 per cent of capacity when next season starts in September, increasing to 50 per cent in November and back to full capacity in January.

Much, though, will depend on whether a second coronavirus wave – which many predict will happen – hits the country in the autumn or winter.

Poland, Russia and Serbia have already announced their plans to reopen stadiums to approximately 25 per cent capacity from June.