The conditions for crowds to return to stadiums
It will be possible to be on football pitches without a facemask if there is a safety distance
MadridCrowds will return to stadiums and pavilions next season. With what capacity? It will be decided by the autonomous communities. The Council of Ministers on Thursday passed the elimination of Article 15.2 of the law of new normality, which centralised in the Superior Council of Sports the regulation on the influx of audiences in the professional football league and the ACB basketball league. From now on, it will be up to each territory to decide.
The measure is accompanied by the withdrawal of masks in outdoor spaces from this Saturday onwards. "Visible smiles are back", celebrated the Minister of Health, Carolina Darias, at a press conference after the extraordinary meeting of the cabinet of Pedro Sanchez. You can be in the street without a mask as long as you can keep the distance of 1.5 meters, so that in football fields this will also have to be applied depending on the capacity. If 100% is allowed, it will be necessary to wear a mask; if the necessary distance is left between occupied seats, it will not be necessary. In pavilions it will be necessary to wear them because they are closed.
In this sense, Darias has not wanted to comment on whether stadiums will be full of people. The minister said that crowds will return "normally", as before the pandemic, but when asked specifically, she stated that it will be up to each autonomous community to see how they want to proceed in this regard. At the beginning of May, the Spanish government opened the door to the return of crowds to stadiums for the last matches of the football league, but it was not "advisable". In the domestic competition, this season has been dominated by virtual fans and reproduced chants that spectators could listen to on television.
The Spanish football league has not accepted fans, while other competitions have. The last Champions League and Europa League football matches took place with reduced crowds and now the Euro Cup being held in several countries of the continent has also allowed the stands to be filled minimally.
