SAN FRANCISCO, November 23, (THEWILL) – Boris Johnson, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, is expected to announce new regulations that will allow up to 4,000 fans and spectators to outdoor sports events in England’s lowest risk areas once the current coronavirus lockdown ends early next month.
Since March, fans have been banned from football stadiums across the UK, apart from a handful of test events run during the summer before the second wave of the virus took hold.
England will replace its nationwide lockdown, which is not enforced in Scotland or Wales, with a second edition of the tier system from Wednesday, December 2.
While tier three, which covers the worst affected areas, will not see fans return to football stadiums, outdoor venues in tier one and tier two locations can re-open to limited numbers of people.
Tier two venues will be allowed a maximum crowd of 50% capacity or 2,000, whichever is smaller. In tier one, the same rules on 50% over overall capacity will apply, but to a maximum of 4,000 people.
Johnson is expected to make a statement to MPs on Monday, followed by a vote later in the week.
As uncertainty ran rife earlier this month, a number of Premier League clubs resigned themselves to the possibility of not being allowed to open stadiums to fans this season.
English clubs had asked authorities to work towards a potential return for fans over the Christmas period, having seen initial plans to partially re-open stadiums in October scrapped as a result of a startling rise in cases. However, a second lockdown that began this month appeared to derail such plans.
Premier League sides which had made preparations to ensure fan safety on their grounds, began preparing for the possibility that it could be August 2021 before supporters could return to live games. This latest update, which comes in the wake of significant recent breakthroughs in vaccine development, will be a huge boost for them.
About the Author
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.
