Return of fans inside stadiums postponed by UK Government

The UK government had previously planned to allow 1000 spectators to attend sporting events from October 1 as a part of a pilot scheme to restore normalcy following the Covid-19 outbreak. Even though professional football has resumed in England, with the new season of the English Premier League underway already, the matches are being played in front of empty stands. But, as per the latest reports, the initial plans to bring back fans have been kept on hold owing to an increase in the number of Covid-19 cases.

"It was the case that we were looking at a staged programme of more people returning, it wasn't going to be the case that we were going to have stadiums thronged with fans. We're looking at how we can, for the moment, pause that programme. We have to look at sporting events with caution,” said Michael Gove, as reported by BBC.

Several cross-sport groups had been working on plans which would allow the safe return of fans to watch live sports. The department of Digital, Culture, Media, and Sport was tasked with co-ordinating that work and they informed that October 1 was an ‘inspirational’ date they were working towards. But, as per the warning given by the Government’s two leading medical advisors regarding Covid-19 - Sir Patrick Vallance and Professor Chris Witty, who spoke about the spike in the number of cases - the UK Prime Minister is set to announce several restrictions to curb the spread of the virus.