Sports Minister Nigel Huddleston: "The aim is to get everybody back, full stadia, at some point, but we need to do so only when it is safe"
Tuesday 28 July 2020 11:52, UK
Football and rugby could be the latest sports to pilot the safe return of spectators, with the government confident of beginning a phased return of crowds from October 1.
A number of pilots were confirmed by the government last month, designed to stress-test its guidance on the return of fans to elite sports events.
The aim is to build up to and prepare for the full, socially distanced, return of spectators to sporting events from October.
A maximum of 1,000 spectators have been allowed to attend two county cricket grounds this week to watch friendlies between Surrey and Middlesex at the Kia Oval, and Warwickshire vs Worcestershire at Edgbaston.
In addition, up to 2,500 spectators per day will be able to attend the first two days of this weekend's Bob Willis Trophy games at the Kia Oval and Edgbaston.
Sports Minister Nigel Huddleston, who is attending Edgbaston on Tuesday for the final day of the two-day match, says the events so far are going well.
"The pilot schemes are really important so we can hit that target of October 1 to open up more sport and get people back in stadiums which everybody wants," Huddleston told Sky Sports News.
"What I'm hearing so far is they are going well and we'll be looking for further piloting as the weeks go by.
"The whole point is to learn lessons on what can be improved and what can change so that we can get sport back live with audiences in as safe way as possible."
Asked about expanding the test events to include football and rugby matches, Huddleston said: "We're having discussions at the moment so that we can have more sports involved.
"I expect there to be a rugby and a football game to be part of the pilot scheme.
"The whole point of the pilot scheme is we do things in baby steps, in a disciplined manner, but I'm very confident.
"Obviously, if there are things that need changing based on the pilots then we'll see how things go but I'm confident that the pilots will be successful because they're being really well planned and carefully thought out and hopefully we can move on from there."
Social distancing measures in place across the UK means a return to full capacity crowds is not currently permitted, but the government are cautiously optimistic that could happen before the end of the 2020-21 football season.
"It's a fair aspiration, but we can't set clear dates and I think everybody understands why," said Huddleston.
"The aim is to get everybody back, full stadia, at some point, but we need to do so only when it is safe.
"These pilot tests reveal what we can do with a limited capacity and then look to build that up to full capacity."
