Government and CTS evaluate partial opening of the Olimpico for the European Championships in June

“The Italian government has asked the CTS for an opinion, to evaluate, on the basis of the epidemiological situation and the progress of vaccinations, the possibility of providing a limited presence of the public for the European football championships that will be held starting from 11 June”. The news was released by government sources who, however, reiterated that the Technical Scientific Committee will evaluate this possibility based on the progress of the epidemic. Four matches of the European Championship postponed last year will be staged in Rome, including the inaugural one of the event with the challenge between Italy and Turkey (whose national teams are currently the subject of controversy because they have developed two clusters of infections).

In Italy

In the February meeting in Italy, hypotheses emerged for a reopening of the stadiums in spring with the entry of a thousand spectators per game, as at the beginning of the season before the second wave. With nine games left in Serie A, however, it is difficult to imagine even a very partial reopening. As for the European Championship, according to Uefa guidelines, the facilities could be open with a maximum capacity of 50%. In recent weeks, there was also talk of a possible opening of 30% for the Olimpico. “As for the Olimpico, there are 15 thousand spectators. I think it is an important sign of trust, not only for football and sport but for the whole country. There is a country that has to start again, ”said Undersecretary of Health Andrea Costa. «The CTS will establish what are the requirements, which will not be just the vaccine. A protocol will be drawn up. Politics must take responsibility for choosing, for deciding. We are thinking about an event that will take place in two months. If we are convinced that the vaccination plan can give results, it is logical to think of planning events over time. It is a signal that represents the right synthesis between a health emergency that is still circulating and politics that must once again be the protagonist and make choices. It will take traceability, something that allows us to be sure that whoever enters the stadium has the requisites to do so ».

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In Europe

In UK at the end of February Boris Johnson presented his plan to get out of the lockdown, establishing an initial maximum capacity of 10,000 spectators for the stadiums from May 17 (Wimbledon will be open to the public). In Netherlands the Johan Cruijff Arena in Amsterdam reopened its gates on March 27th. Five thousand spectators were able to watch the match between the Netherlands and Latvia, valid for qualifying for the next World Cup and won by the home team 2-0. A test that followed those already carried out during the NEC-De Graafschap and Almere City FC-SC Cambuur matches, with 1300 people in the stands and only one positive at the end of the two races. The Eredivisie matches, on the other hand, continue to be played behind closed doors. In Spain La Liga hopes to partially reopen after the third week of April. Meanwhile, on April 3 there should have been a turnout of 25% of the capacity at the final of the Copa del Rey 2020 between Atletico Bilbao and Real Sociedad. But the government blocked the reopening at the last minute. In Germany instead the lockdown is in effect until April 18 and the stadiums for the Bundesliga are expected to remain closed for the whole season. The same for Ligue 1 in France. In Turkey, Ataturk in Istanbul was supposed to host 10,000 spectators (15% of the total capacity) for Turkey-Latvia on March 30, but the scientific committee blocked the reopening. In Russia there is the green light only for the already vaccinated (Zenit St. Petersburg vaccinates for free those who buy the ticket for home matches)

In the world

In Oceania lifts open to spectators as seen also during the America’s Cup of sailing. In the United States the Super Bowl of the NFL took place in front of 20,000 people, while in the NBA it is gradually reopening the sports halls with a maximum capacity of 20%. Meanwhile, in the opening match of the Texas Rangers, Arlington’s Mlb franchise, the Globe Life Field stadium opened its gates a few days ago to 38,238 fans, that is 94.8% of the total capacity (not without controversy about safety). It was therefore the American sporting event with the largest audience since the beginning of the pandemic, surpassing the Daytona 500 (just over 30,000 people) and the Super Bowl (24,835). China has already reopened to the public (in October 60,000 people celebrated the Jiangsu champion) and the Japan, which wants to extend the experiment also to baseball (up to 20,000 admissions) in view of the Olympic Games where local spectators will be present. In Israel thanks to the speed of vaccinations, there were 5,000 fans to attend the qualifying match for the 2022 World Cup between Israel and Denmark.