The UK Government have confirmed this morning that plans to get fans back inside stadiums from next month are being stalled.
Football clubs are desperate to safely get their supporters back in the stands, but COVID-19 concerns has forced a rethink at the top.
Speaking to the BBC, Cabinet Office Minister Michael Gove explained how mistakes made earlier this year will influence the decision.
“It was the case that we were looking at a staged programme of more people returning [from October 1],” he said. “It wasn’t going to be the case that we were to have stadiums thronged with fans.
“We’re looking at how we can, for the moment, pause that programme. What we do want to do is to make sure that, as and when circumstances allow, [we’re able to] get more people back.
“The virus is less likely to spread outdoors than indoors, but again, it’s in the nature of major sporting events that there’s a lot of mingling.”
This news is obviously a shame for professional sports clubs and their supporters, but it’s probably a good decision to be considerate.
With most of North West England going into a partial local lockdown as of today, it’s clear we’re not going in the right direction regarding the pandemic.
As reported by the Guardian, the Champions League fixture between Liverpool and Atletico Madrid at Anfield earlier this year was linked with a rise in infections.
The Tories are all about keeping the economy going at all costs, so the decision to stop match-goers from spending money will not have been taken lightly.
One day soon we’ll all be allowed to go back to the lives we had pre-COVID, but the wait is set to continue.