No fans at La Liga stadiums for rest of the season, say organisers

Spain’s secretary for sport Irene Lozano and La Liga president Javier Tebas have categorically dominated out fans returning to matches earlier than the finish of this season to reduce the threat of the novel coronavirus spreading.

Tebas mentioned final month that fans must be allowed again as soon as it’s secure to take action, whereas the league drew up a draft protocol in the occasion that the authorities’s division for sport accepted their return.

Yet Lozano, who has repeatedly said that the marketing campaign ought to end with out supporters as these had been the situations for matches returning after the March hiatus, drew a line beneath the matter in a breakfast assembly with reporters on Thursday.

“The safest thing to do is to complete the season without spectators,” she mentioned.

“Football moves masses of people, it’s not like the theatre. A match behind-closed-doors is attended by only 250 people, but a stadium only at one-third of its capacity could mean 30,000 people. That’s why it’s different from other activities.”

None of Europe’s prime 5 leagues have been capable of maintain matches with spectators since soccer has returned, though championships in nations equivalent to Serbia, Bulgaria and Denmark have allowed fans again into matches.

Tebas mentioned that the league was now not planning for fans to return, including that the fundamental impediment was the prospect of individuals congregating earlier than and after video games, as occurred at a current derby between Sporting Gijon and Real Oviedo.

“Right now La Liga is not prioritizing the return of supporters to stadiums,” he mentioned.

“The big problem is the crowds inside and outside the stadium. We had problems with the Asturian derby as there were more than 2,000 people outside. We can’t afford to kid ourselves because if we aren’t careful there could be a second wave.”