October 2 – Building on the success of the recent Super Cup, UEFA have made the landmark decision to allow limited numbers of spectators back into all its international and club fixtures.
Starting with next week’s national team programme, and followed by the group phase of the Champions League and Europa League, UEFA will allow “a maximum of 30%” of stadium capacities to be filled.
Up until now, all matches in the Champions League, Europa League and Nations League have been played behind closed doors because of Covid-19, but the decision follows a successful experiment at the Super Cup in Budapest last week when around 15,500 spectators watched Bayern Munich beat Sevilla.
The move comes into effect as of next week when a series of international friendlies take place followed by the next two rounds of the Nations League.
Social distancing will be mandatory as well as other precautionary measures such as the use of masks in accordance with local regulations.
Crucially, the loosening of restrictions is subject to national authorities giving the green light and UEFA acknowledged that certain games may still have to go ahead behind closed doors or with even more limited numbers of fans. Away supporters will continued to be barred “until further notice”.
According to UEFA, a total of 27 countries across Europe currently allow some fans to attend matches and UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin commented: “Today’s decision is a sensible first step which puts fans’ health first and respects the laws in each country.”
“While we all face a common enemy in Covid, different countries have different approaches and different challenges at any given moment. This decision allows much more local flexibility to deal with admitting fans than was previously the case, always respecting the assessment of local authorities.”
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