Cup finals could be test events for return of fans
The finals of the FA Cup and Carabao Cup have emerged as front-runners for crowd testing as figures within government prioritise allowing spectators at Wimbledon and Euro 2020 this summer.
The Daily Telegraph disclosed on Saturday how an ambition to save the “crown jewels” of the summer sporting season was growing, with the possibility of sending Covid-19 test kits with tickets being explored in Whitehall.
Wimbledon and the seven Wembley matches in the European Championship football tournament were cited as central to a “huge push to get stadiums and sports open”.
As part of those plans, small numbers of fans could be allowed inside Wembley in April as the Carabao Cup final between Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester City is being considered as a test event. The FA Cup final takes place in May.
Sources close to the Football Association and Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport said it was too early to speculate, but one Whitehall insider maintained the cup finals were good opportunities for pilot events.
The FA is understood to be ready for crowds as soon as ministers give them the green light. The Carabao Cup final was already earmarked internally as a chance to test new steps at Wembley.
Figures within football are excited over the rapid progress of the vaccination roll-out, and hopeful that government will again look at the possibility of launching digital passports to allow fans to prove they have had the jab.
Oliver Dowden, the Culture Secretary, set up the Sports Technology and Innovation Group (Stig) last September to explore ways to get fans back into venues.
It is understood two test events would be required for Wembley to be given the go-ahead to have fans for the seven Euro 2020 matches. Numbers have yet to be discussed but it is unlikely the 90,000-seat stadium would be more than a third full for England’s group stage match against Scotland. Wimbledon would face the same restrictions.
Senior Whitehall figures were at odds over the talks yesterday. After one said there was a “huge push to get stadiums and sports open”, another source said “nothing is being worked up yet – we need to get the roadmap out, share what the outlook is first. Anything above this is just speculation, sadly”.
Options for getting crowds back include posting lateral flow device tests to ticket holders ahead of events to certify them Covid negative, and rapid on-site testing and temperature checks. Asking fans to isolate before events has been deemed commercially unviable, it is understood.
Another government source insisted it was “very early days”, adding: “Nobody in government is making any promises about this. The roadmap is key.”
The Prime Minister is set to lay out the Government’s strategy for exiting lockdown on Monday. He has said his priority is to reopen schools, which is expected to happen from March 8.
Stig has met regularly to discuss measures to aid the return of crowds, including ticketing, travel to and from venues, and making venues Covid-secure.
A source close to the talks said tennis had been highlighted as a priority and was linked to a potential plan to offer preferential treatment to those already vaccinated against coronavirus.
The Government has vowed to offer all Britons over 50 and all adults with underlying health conditions a first dose of Covid vaccine by the spring. Scientists predict the mortality rate of the virus will fall by 99 per cent once these groups have been vaccinated.