Football is Set to Make a Comeback – Only Behind Closed Doors

Eager football fans have been sat bated breath for the announcement of the return of their beloved sport and now, they’ve got what they wanted! The German Bundesliga as European frontrunner starting this weekend, and both England and Spain had announced football will be making a comeback, only the games will be played behind closed doors with no tickets offered for sale.

Set to make a comeback

The Coronavirus halted all sports across the globe; from the Grand National at Aintree in April to the NFL in the US – no sport has come out unscathed. The mayor of Madrid recently told a somewhat shocked but pleasantly surprised country that sporting events are set to remain fan-free until at least the end of the summer. LaLiga is suspended indefinitely, although many of the teams have returned to training.

Jose Luis Martinez-Almeida told Onda Cero radio station “In the spring and summer there won’t be any events with crowds in Spain, and possibly not in the fall either. Because obviously the situation will not be fully under control. We will have to change our habits and behaviours even after being allowed to go back on to the streets.”

Spanish top-flight football is rumoured to be making a return at the end of the month.

The UK’s Sporting Stance

The Champions League, League One and League Two football games are expected to be televised (or available online) from June 1^st. A 50-page guidance document was released by the government recently, detailing how England will begin to ease the lockdown measures that have been in-place for some weeks now

Same goes for the horseracing industry, plans have been leaked which also suggest horseracing events to be available from June 1^st. Formula 1 has pencilled in July 19^th as a starting date, but, every sport will roll out a no-fan policy which means there will be no tickets on sale.

Golf courses opened up from May 11^th in England and Wales and recreational sports have also been given the go-ahead, providing they are adhering to the social distancing rules. The document from the UK Government also went on to say:

“Some venues which are, by design, crowded and where it may prove difficult to enact distancing may still not be able to reopen safely at this point, or may be able to open safely only in part.

In order to facilitate the fastest possible reopening of these types of higher-risk businesses and public places, the government will carefully phase and pilot reopening’s to test their ability to adopt the new Covid-19 secure guidelines. The government will also monitor carefully the effects of reopening other similar establishments elsewhere in the world, as this happens.”

A meeting between the sporting bodies in the UK was taking place on Monday May 11^th, and we expect an announcement being made any time soon, with a specific start date for football.