BEVERLY HILLS, April 02, (THEWILL) – As the world gradually recovers some form of normalcy in the face of the pandemic and the availability of vaccines, restrictions are being loosened for sports in different areas. One aspect is in the permission granted for a limited number of fans to attend the Carabao Cup final between Tottenham and Manchester City later this month.
The English Football Association intends to use the event as a pilot for the government to try out the return of fans to football stadiums before lockdown restrictions are fully lifted in June according to government plans.
Accordingly, fans planning to be in the socially-distanced stands will be required to provide a negative COVID-19 test before entering the Wembley venue. Social distancing guidelines will remain in place once on the grounds and will be enforced strictly.
It is unclear what the exact number of tickets available for the final will be. The expectation is a number within the range of 4000-8000 tickets to enable the government to test the impact of fans returning to football grounds prior to the number being increased to 10,000 in May before the June mark.
In addition, the announcement left out any indication whether City fans, who have a negative COVID-19 test and are willing to watch the match in-person, will be allowed to travel from Manchester to Wembley for the final.
Another game to receive fans according to Brent Council, the London authority covering Wembley, will be Leicester’s FA Cup semi-final with Southampton, which comes up a week before the Spurs/City Carabao Cup final. But, because it is a part of the trialling, tickets were restricted only to local residents including health workers, Brent Council staff, teachers and pupils over the age of 18.
This same category of fans will be reflected in those permitted to attend the Carabao Cup final. They will be joined by a limited number of fans of both City and Spurs.
A statement to that effect by Brent Council helped to explain their reasoning for said groups being chosen. It read: “These groups have been chosen as they are largely already in regular testing regimes.”
The Council was selecting a pool of residents who had earlier indicated their interest to attend the matches, and the Council was providing two match tickets to those fortunate enough to be selected. However, the opportunity to attend the one FA Cup semi-final between Leicester and Southampton did not cover the other one between Chelsea and City, as no permission for that has been issued, yet.
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Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
