August 28 – Swedish football fans will be allowed to attend domestic matches again after local health authorities green-lighted a government proposal to cap attendance at public events at 500.
Currently, public gatherings are limited to 50 persons in the Scandinavian country, but from October 1 football fans can look forward to attending live matches again as that maximum will be raised to 500. In recent weeks, the number of coronavirus deaths has been going down in Sweden.
“The proposal relates to events where there are numbered seats,” said Sweden’s chief epidemiologist Anders Tegnell. He added that spectators will have to be seated at least one meter apart to ensure social distancing is maintained and opened the door to raising the limit further if the 500-person maximum is successful.
Clubs in the Allsvenskan, the Swedish top flight, have been lobbying to allow attendance as a proportion of a stadium’s maximum capacity rather than a fixed number of people, but that proposal was shot down by the national health agency, with the argument that it would lead to overcrowding on public transport.
After 17 match days, Malmo top the league on 38 points, seven more than second-placed IF Elsborg. The Allsvenskan is due to finish on December 6.
Contact the writer of this story, Samindra Kunti, at moc.l1713974739labto1713974739ofdlr1713974739owedi1713974739sni@o1713974739fni1713974739