NOVEMBER | COVER FEATURE
Following successful pilot events with live audiences across sports including football , rugby , cricket and snooker , the industry was stunned on 22 September when the Government announced there would be a ban on fans for up to six months . Christopher Barrett investigates the impact of that decision and the work already done to make events Covid-secure .
An enormous amount of research had been carried out and safety measures implemented across the sports industry to ensure the safety of fans as it prepared to welcome audiences of up to 1,000 back to events from 1 October . With many sports clubs , teams , organisations and venues reliant on ticket revenue , prime minister Boris Johnson ’ s announcement that the ban on fans could remain in place until late March was a kick in the shins .
Rugby Football League chief regulatory officer Karen Moorhouse says that all the league ’ s clubs were ready to host matches with live audiences of 1,000 and eager to demonstrate to the Department for Digital , Culture , Media & Sport ( DCMS ) how that could be achieved safely under current Covid-19 related events guidelines .
She says the sports industry will fundamentally change if audiences are not able to return soon : “ Spectators are vital for sports , every business needs its customers in order to survive and thrive , and our clubs and the venue owners are experts in crowd movement , so we ’ re disappointed that the pilots aren ' t going to happen and that there is no road map to getting back to having crowds .”
Moorhouse says it is easy to “ look at the situation through a Premier League
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