Coronavirus in sport

[Lineker]

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The government has dashed hopes fans could be back inside stadiums for the start of the new Premier League season on 12 September with the sports minister, Nigel Huddleston, confirming officials are working towards 1 October.

A series of test events have started to be trialled in cricket grounds – with 1,000 fans being allowed to watch Surrey play Middlesex last Sunday. The world snooker championship and the final day of Glorious Goodwood will follow this week.

“The October 1 deadline is certainly the target that we’re looking at,” Huddleston said. “If you look at various announcements we’ve made, some have been put forward, some have been pushed back, but that’s a pretty firm one. In the whole scheme of things, it’s not that far away – 60-something days and we’ll be there – so I would be surprised if that date was moved.”

The Community Shield and Women’s Super League matches are believed to be under consideration as test events, but Huddleston warned football fans that if they didn’t obey social distancing rules in test events it would push back the reopening of stadiums.

“There are particular challenges with certain sports,” he said. “People have got to realise if you don’t behave, you won’t have more people in stadiums. They’ve got to take that personal responsibility and realise that if they don’t behave appropriately they’re risking the game for everybody.”

Huddleston also signalled to the Premier League that it should do more to help lower-league clubs survive the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and warned that the government could not continue to help through the furlough scheme and loans forever.

“We are having conversations with all the key players. The Premier League has advanced £125m so far and if more’s needed then we’ll have those conversations,” he said. “But the public wouldn’t expect us to be doling out public money if there’s not also some activity and personal sacrifice by the individual clubs as well.

“There’s a responsibility for the football pyramid to look very carefully at the dynamics and the financial flows. There’s a lot of money in British football and we need to make sure that it first and foremost looks after itself.”

Huddleston took a similarly tough approach when asked whether the government could help the Rugby Football Union, which is expected to cut 139 jobs and lose £107m because of the pandemic. “You’ve got to remember that over the last few months many sports entities, including grassroots, have taken advantage of the various government schemes to the tune of tens, if not hundreds, of millions of pounds, whether it’s the furloughing or loans or any of the other initiatives out there,” he said.

“There are always demands for additional pockets of support, but the priority has to be to help get sport back on its own feet. The most important way to do that is getting people back in stadia and games going again. We can’t be bailing out every sector of the economy forever.”

Huddleston conceded it was hard to see a date when packed crowds would return. “Whilst we’ve still got social distancing measures in place, it’s going to be challenging. There is experimentation going on around the world, both indoor and outdoor. You look at what Asian countries are doing with theatres, for example. I’m not utterly pessimistic.”

[Lineker]

Fans will be allowed to attend football in the seventh tier and below, after the government updated its guidance on recreational team sport events.

[Lineker]

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Tottenham want to stage a test event at their stadium featuring the return of around 31,000 fans as football attempts to navigate a way back towards having crowds in the face of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The club’s chairman, Daniel Levy, made the proposal at the Premier League shareholders meeting, saying he hoped that 50% of the ground’s capacity could be used. It would be impossible to socially distance such numbers but he believes that they could still be accommodated safely.

At the very least, Levy wants to look into it – with support from the government. He has previously said that he wants to explore scientific and technological solutions to pave the way for supporters to return; possibly digital health passports and smartphone applications.

The government has been hopeful that some fans will be able to come back from 1 October but it is understood that Levy would like the trial at the Tottenham stadium to take place as soon as possible.

Premier League clubs have modelled the socially distanced return of supporters and some have seen that it would involve the use of only around 25% of their stadiums. They have explored whether this would be financially viable in terms of potential income covering overheads.

 

[Baddar]

Any number of fans creating an atmosphere is better than the fake crowd noise tbh.

[Benjamin]

31,000 people? Fucking hell. 

[Lineker]

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German amateur side SG Ripdorf/Molzen II sacrificed a tight defence for social distancing as they fielded only seven players as a coronavirus precaution in a 37-0 loss to local rivals SV Holdenstedt II.

The preparations for Sunday’s match in Lower Saxony’s 3. Kreisklasse – the 11th tier of German football – were complicated when it emerged that Holdenstedt players had been in contact with an opponent infected with Covid-19 in a previous match.

While all members of the Holdenstedt squad later tested negative for the virus, Ripdorf, from Uelzen in Lower Saxony, did not feel the conditions were safe and were able to field only seven players – the minimum number required for a match.

“We are thankful those seven players volunteered, otherwise the club would have faced a 200-euro fine for abandoning the match,” Ripdorf co-chair Patrick Ristow told ESPN. “That’s a lot of money for us, especially amid the pandemic.”

Holdenstedt showed no mercy and scored a goal nearly every two minutes, while their opponents watched on from a safe distance.

“When the game kicked off, one of our players passed the ball to the opponent and our team walked to the sidelines,” Ristow said.

“The Holdenstedt players did not understand. But we did not want to risk anything. For the rest of the match, our players returned to the field but they only stood on the pitch.”

The match result has since created a stir on social media but Ristow said Ripdorf only focused on what was best for the wellbeing of all the players on the pitch.

“There is no perfect solution for it. And we went down this route,” he added. “We wished Holdenstedt no harm.”

 

[Gazz]

Absolutely fucked my Lower Saxony 3. Kreisklasse Fantasy team, that result did. Had double Ripdorf defence, both got -16pts.

[Lineker]

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The government is set to pause its plans for the partial return of fans to all sports stadiums on 1 October because of the rapid spike in Covid-19 cases, the Guardian understands. While a decision is yet to be confirmed, sources say that the “mood music” now makes it very unlikely that supporters will be allowed back at a time when greater curbs are being introduced across Great Britain.

The prime minister is also facing growing pressure to avert the looming crisis in professional and grassroots sport, with a letter signed by the leaders of more than 100 sports organisations – including the Premier League, Football Association, Rugby Football Union and UK Athletics – warning of the risk of a “lost generation” of sport and activity if he fails to act.

The letter urges the government to set up a “comprehensive support package” for the sport and physical sector combining investment, tax incentives, and regulatory reform in order to help clubs, organisations and facilities stabilise and survive. “We are united in our concern that at a time when our role should be central to the nation’s recovery, the future of the sector is perilous,” the letter states. “Covid–19 has exposed the fragility of vital services and assets, with sports clubs and fitness facilities facing permanent closure, depriving local communities of facilities and programmes on which they depend.

“Covid-19 has undermined our commercial revenue streams with both stadia and leisure facilities closed or greatly reduced in capacity. The impact of this will potentially lead to a lost generation of sport and activity. In order to play our fullest role, we must survive and stabilise.”

The Premier League wrote to the government this month to warn that football stands to lose £100m a month while games are played behind closed doors. The RFU plans to make 139 staff redundant as it tries to cope with £107m in lost revenue while last week the ECB also announced 62 job losses and said it has lost £100m already this year.

In a speech to the Sport & Recreation Alliance annual conference on Monday, the sports minister, Nigel Huddleston, insisted the government is “putting sporting and health at the heart of its coronavirus agenda”. However, he admitted: “It’s no exaggeration to say that the pandemic has profoundly affected the sporting landscape, and will continue to do so for many months to come.”

 

[METALMAN]

I see Sean Dyche has been at the Ayn Rand

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2020/sep/22/frank-lampard-believes-premier-league-will-come-to-aid-of-efl-clubs

[Lineker]

 

[METALMAN]

The Nutcracker is great though.

[Cymbols]

Goodness me.
 

[Lineker]

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Plans to allow supporters back into football matches, perhaps before the end of the year, are being considered in government.

The proposals could come into effect at the end of the current national lockdown and allow a small number of fans to attend games in areas under tier 1 restrictions, the lightest set of local coronavirus measures.

A concerted campaign, #letfansin, has been conducted by supporters’ groups and clubs in recent weeks after plans for a return at the beginning of October were abandoned.

Clubs, especially lower down the pyramid, are desperate for the revenue provided by matchday tickets. Fans, meanwhile, were aggravated by inconsistencies which allowed people to pay to watch matches in the cinema but not in stadiums. Both sets of concerns have recently been amplified by northern Tory MPs, who represent constituencies that contain many League One and Two clubs, who made the case for a return of fans to the prime minister.

Although Boris Johnson is reported to have told his “red wall” MPs that getting fans back would be a top priority when a national English lockdown ends, the idea of an immediate return was met with scepticism in some quarters.

A source at the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport dismissed as “speculation” claims that the plans were to be implemented and said a number of proposals had been drawn up regarding the return of fans. England is to remain under national restrictions until 2 December, with a review of those rules not expected until next week.

The idea of a limited return of fans was not discussed at a summit of football leaders on Tuesday. Convened by the culture secretary, Oliver Dowden, the meeting discussed the many crises in the game brought on or brought into focus by the pandemic.

Representatives of the Premier League, EFL, Football Supporters’ Association and Kick it Out gave presentations. The former Football Association chairman David Bernstein presented his plans for a “manifesto for change” and called for the introduction of an independent regulator for football.

The meeting was described by one participant as “relaxed, with no feeling of urgency”. There was no discussion after the presentations and little sense of a common approach going forward.

One tweet from Dowden, posted after the meeting, suggested that the government’s promised fan-led review was about to begin. “Discussions to continue as we start our fan-led review of governance,” he wrote. This message appears to be misleading, however, as it is understood there is no timeframe for the review to get under way and marked resistance to it from other stakeholders.

The FSA noticed the message and responded to Dowden’s tweet. “Thanks to @OliverDowden for today’s invitation,” it wrote. “We reiterated the urgency of starting a fan led review now to the Minister and to the football authorities on the call. In addition we lobbied for the return of supporters to stadiums ASAP. Fans need football and football needs fans.”

 

[Lineker]

Up to 4,000 fans will be allowed at outdoor sporting events in lowest-risk areas when lockdown in England ends on December 2nd.

[GuyIncognito]

On 23/11/2020 at 15:25, Lineker said:

Up to 4,000 fans will be allowed at outdoor sporting events in lowest-risk areas when lockdown in England ends on December 2nd.

The fact we won't get 2,000 at Col U, let alone 4,000 will be the only solace if we get put in Tier 2. Will be so embarrassing when we're the only league club in the country allowed 4,000 fans and barely get a 3rd of that.

[Lineker]

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Supporters will be allowed to drink alcohol without ordering a substantial meal when football stadiums reopen on Wednesday – but only if they are seated in concourses or hospitality areas.

Updated guidance, issued by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport in connection with the Sports Grounds Safety Authority, also requires each club to produce a code of conduct for spectators, including the wearing of face coverings on entry and in concourses, queues and toilets.

“Given the higher risk of transmission associated with singing and shouting, event organisers should remind spectators of this and strongly therefore encourage the use of face coverings in all outdoor spectator settings, including seats/standing points,” the guidance states.

Drinks will not be permitted in seats in the stands but stadiums will be allowed to provide temporary seats in concourses.

A number of EFL clubs will welcome back fans on Wednesday, with supporters returning to Premier League grounds from Thursday. These are in tier 2 areas, where stadium rules will be 50% of capacity or 2,000 – whichever is smaller.

Clubs can be stricter with their rules if they wish. Wycombe have chosen to cap the attendance at 1,000 for their first match – the Championship game against Stoke on Wednesday – and have told returning spectators: “Avoid hugs, high fives, handshakes, or other close contact with people who are not in your social bubble. Take care when singing, chanting, or celebrating.”

Government guidance hints that one-off exemptions from the current limits could be made, subject to government approval, if the coronavirus rate drops. The new rules state: “Exceptions – any government-endorsed test events will be subject to different arrangements and capacity calculations.”

However insiders have told the Guardian that while there is a desire in government for test events with more spectators in the new year, there is no fixed pathway or plan in place for it to happen.

For sports held indoors, there will be a limit of 1,000 spectators in tiers 1 and 2. “Singing and shouting is to be discouraged at indoor sports events,” government guidance says.

 

[Colly]

That's insane. I'm sure there are clubs with massive concourse areas, but bits of Newcastle really aren't that wide, so to allow people to be in them maskless for 15 minutes is stupid. Good job we're tier 3.

[Adam]

4 hours ago, Colly said:

That's insane. I'm sure there are clubs with massive concourse areas, but bits of Newcastle really aren't that wide, so to allow people to be in them maskless for 15 minutes is stupid. Good job we're tier 3.

You would hope that all clubs take a bespoke approach. Before all this government guidance, several bodies spent all summer drafting detailed safety plans for the return of fans to stadiums and it all had that approach of knowing every venue was different. If clubs are sensible, it won't be an issue because if there's no room for the things mentioned above they simply won't happen.

[Gazz]

The guidance in grassroots has been predictably vague, shit and generally just unhelpful.

In my own experience, Staffordshire FA came out on Monday and advised that all youth football should remain suspended while the area is still in tier 3. On the basis of that advice, the local leagues all unanimously agreed to suspend play for December.

Then on Tuesday, Birmingham FA advised that they were happy for all youth football to resume, even in tier 3, so the Birmingham affiliated leagues all planned fixtures for December, even though a lot of teams in the Birmingham league are based in Staffordshire, and travelling between tier 3 areas is prohibited.

Then this morning, the Staffordshire FA reversed their position and advised that youth football could resume in December, except some leagues have said that they won't resume in December and some have said that they will.

So in one, overlapping regional area (South Staffordshire), we have:

• The Walsall league, which is suspended.
• The Central Warwickshire league, which has resumed, but in which some teams can't play certain fixtures as they're out of area.
• The Lichfield league, which has fully resumed.

There is a 12 year old who plays for me, he can't play football as our team is suspended, but his 14 year old brother can play for his team, as his league isn't. It's an absolute mess.

[Lineker]

The Premier League and EFL will continue in Tier 4.