The Football Association, having believed just a few weeks ago that crowds would not be permitted back into stadiums “for a very long time,” is now “starting to have the conversations” about how supporters may safely be able to watch matches as early as September, according to the FA chief executive, Mark Bullingham.
His assertion follows the culture secretary, Oliver Dowden, saying at the government’s daily briefing on the Covid-19 crisis that he is also aiming to see supporters come back by then.
“I would really hope that by the return of the new season we might be in a position whereby some fans could start to return to stadiums. I know that would be another important part of restoring the financial position of clubs,” Dowden said.
Health advice on the transmission of the coronavirus is that it is safer when people are outside watching matches at the stadiums, so the difficult issues are how people get in and move around in grounds, and to cut down on too much additional travelling.
Dowden explained at the briefing that because of the “outdoor element”, supporters may be able to return sooner to sport than audiences to indoor venues such as theatres.
Bullingham said: “When we look ahead to September, we are hoping we are in a very different situation than we are now as a country, and we hope at some point we can start having crowds back.
“We’re looking at loads of options; we’re even getting people to map out what traffic flows [of spectators] look like in stadia, explore what it could look like with one-metre, two-metre social distancing and so on.”
Plans could include “digital passports” via an app showing that people are not infected with Covid‑19, depending on the government’s testing operation, he said.
The FA is examining how to improve the “diversity of leadership across the administration and coaching side of the game,” he said, following the Black Lives Matter protests and public stances taken by Raheem Sterling and Marcus Rashford.
Bullingham said the FA is “incredibly proud” of those players. Players will be free to take the knee before matches, and not face
disciplinary action, he said.
The FA’s losses from the shutdown caused by the pandemic will be between £100m to £300m, Bullingham outlined, explaining that the crisis is worst or clubs in the lower divisions of the EFL and the National League, who rely on crowds for their income.
As the Premier League has the vast bulk of football’s money due to their £8.6bn 2019-22 TV deals, Bullingham said the Premier League is “working on” what a solution for the wider game could look like.