Reports | EFL in talks over holding test events with fans at stadiums
According to reports from the Guardian, the English Football League is in preliminary discussions with the government over staging test events to help with the gradual return of supporters. The extended 2019/20 season was finished behind closed doors, with the 2020/21 season set to do the same.
With the English football season three weeks away from restarting action, the biggest question surrounding the 2020/21 season is whether fans will be allowed into stadiums. The impact of the coronavirus saw the extended 2019/20 season finish behind closed doors but many believe that fans could be back within stadiums before the end of 2020. It has many hopeful and the Guardian has reported that the EFL are in discussions with the government and sports grounds safety authority (SGSA), with them looking into staging test events.
The report revealed that the EFL are positive they can handle the gradual return to fans within stadiums, with them working to devise a protocol to help with the same. With the season set to resume from 12th September, the report indicated that Charlton Athletic’s League One game on 19th September could be one test event but there will be others before that. The first round of the Carabao Cup starts in the first week of September, with potential test events set to be held there as well.
Not only that League Two side Cambridge United’s Abbey Stadium has been picked as another pilot stadium with the league determined to be ready for the return of fans. That is in-case the British government gives the green light for a stage five return under the digital, culture, media and sport (DCMS) guidelines which “allows for spectators to return to competition in a controlled and socially distanced way at reduced capacity in competition venues”.
