Premier League, FA And EFL Unite To Send Open Letter To Fans
The Premier League, EFL, FA, and Women’s Super League and Championship have joined together to send an open letter to football fans.
The collective say they are continuing to urge the government to allow the safe return of fans to stadiums, and have pointed to successful test events staged before the recent round of lockdown measures saw fans’ return pushed back.
The government had previously launched a pilot scheme to test limited fan attendance at a number of sporting events in August and September.
The organisations say that they have demonstrated that a safe return to limited attendance within football stadiums is possible, and point out that the sooner fans return, ‘the sooner we can reunite communities and support local jobs, livelihoods, regional businesses and also the national economy.’
In a statement, the group told its fans: “In light of the postponement of test events we will intensify our efforts to pioneer new approaches – working with epidemiologists, scientists and medical experts in areas such as public health, clinical processes and occupational hygiene. This will make sure stadiums are COVID-safe by considering best practice screening and hygiene methods to ensure that fans and the general public will be safe and drive the Government’s sporting plans to move faster.”
The letter also outlined some of the measures football could take to ensure that any return to fans in attendance could be done safely to mitigate the spread of the virus.
“Stadium environments can be modified and carefully managed,” said the statement.
“Measures could include screening spectators before they enter the ground, installing temperature checks, requiring masks to be worn, one-way systems and providing a code of conduct for all those attending on a matchday. This will all be bolstered by deep-cleaning practices to help further reduce the risk of virus transmission.”
The open letter was signed by Premier League CEO, Richard Masters, FA CEO, Mark Bullingham, EFL CEO David Baldwin and the FA’s Director of the Women’s Game, Kelly Simmons.
