Fans may not be allowed back to live sports until next March
Fans in England hoping to get a glimpse of their favourite team in the flesh after lockdown will have to wait a bit longer.
The government has cancelled plans for live sport to return from October 1 after introducing a fresh set of tighter nationwide restrictions in the wake of the number of coronavirus cases across the UK rising again.
Cabinet office minister Michael Gove announced that the plans to have the staged return of fans to stadiums in England would be ‘paused’.
He said: “We were looking at a staged programme of more people returning – it wasn’t going to be the case that we were going to have stadiums thronged with fans.
“We’re looking at how we can, for the moment, pause that programme, but what we do want to do is to make sure that, as and when circumstances allow, get more people back.
“The virus is less likely to spread outdoors than indoors but again it’s in the nature of major sporting events that there’s a lot of mingling.”
The majority of sport in England has been played behind closed doors since the lockdown was implemented.
Events that took place with full crowds in March have come under scrutiny regarding their potential impact on the infection levels in the country.
People have questioned whether the Cheltenham Festival should have gone ahead.
Liverpool City Council is also looking into the impact Liverpool’s Champions League fixture against Atletico Madrid, held in front of 52,000 fans, may have had on the outbreak.
And some reports are suggesting it could now be next March before fans are allowed back to events.
Mr Gove continued: “What we must do is look at sporting events now with caution but we also recognise that sport is a vital part of this nation and we’re looking at everything we can do to support our athletes, our great clubs, through what will be a challenging time.”
A letter was sent to the Prime Minister from leaders of more than 100 sports bodies in the UK to ask for emergency funding.
The leaders warned of a ‘lost generation of activity” because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Sport England has handed out £200 million for emergency cases, but the sector believes more is needed for people to survive.