UK soccer showpieces pilots for fans’ return

Article posted by Coliseum, February 18^th, 2021

Image: MJR Group Ltd./Coliseum

The finals of the FA Cup and Carabao Cup football fixtures are reportedly being treated as pilots for the return of fans in England.

‘The Sunday Times’ sources informed that the two matchups at London’s 90,000-capacity Wembley Stadium are being lined up as a kind of prelude to the potential wider roll-out of fans at sporting events during the summer.

The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men’s domestic English football. First played during the 1871-72 seasons, it is the oldest national football competition in the world. It is organized by and named after the Football Association.

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The EFL Cup, currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual knockout football competition in men’s domestic English football.

‘The Sunday Times’ sources further claimed that the UK Government is mulling to allow onlookers back at events such as the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) European Championships, the Wimbledon tennis tournament, Formula 1’s British Grand Prix and golf’s Open Championship.

efl.com sources stated that the final of this season’s Carabao Cup has already been pushed back until April, two months later than initially planned, as the United Kingdom is still not out of the COVID-19 veritable death trap. The Carabao Cup has also been pushed back in the hope that more football fiends will be able to grace the same. The match had initially been due to take place at Wembley Stadium on February 28^th, 2021, but will now be held on April 25^th, 2021.

When announcing the new date, the English Football League (EFL) said its objective was to stage the final with “as many supporters in attendance” as possible, although a clear picture has still not emerged as regards the exact number of fans that will be permitted to attend the soccer spectacle with guidelines subject to change.

This year’s FA Cup final is due to be held at Wembley Stadium on May 15^th. With the COVID-19 vaccination roll-out continuing apace in the UK, there is growing hope that events can go ahead with physically distanced fans sticking to COVID-19-appropriate behavior in the coming months.

The finals of the FA Cup and Carabao Cup have been pinpointed as test runs for Wembley Stadium, which is due to play host to a number of matches during this summer’s rescheduled UEFA European Championships. The Championship, League One and League Two play-off finals will also be held at Wembley Stadium and could be employed as additional pilot events.

Restricted numbers of fans were allowed at football tournaments earlier in the season. But, the new virus variant which has taken a huge toll on lives in the United Kingdom and body bags still piling up, forced games back behind closed doors – bringing the situation back to square one. Spectators were also permitted in other sports, including rugby union, cricket and horse racing.

Wembley Stadium will stage seven matches at Euro 2020 this summer, including all of England’s three group-stage games, a last-16 fixture, both semi-finals and the final. The English Football Association (FA) is reportedly hoping to open Wembley Stadium at around 30-35 percent capacity for the games, which would see between 27,000 and 31,500 supporters being welcomed to the venue fold.

If plans for the FA Cup and Carabao Cup finals are given the go-ahead, the attendance would be much lower at around 10,000. Plans for the return of fans are set to be considered by the Sports Technology and Innovation Group in UK, which was set up last year to explore high-tech solutions that can allow more fans to return to stadia.

On March 17^th, 2020, UEFA announced that its flagship fixture – UEFA Euro 2020 – would be postponed by a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe, and proposed it take place from June 11^th to July 11^th, 2021, which was confirmed on June 17^th, 2020.

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