Covid-Certification Potential For Premier League Games In England

A full crowd at a football match The Premier League is trying to progress with plans for a Covid-certification scheme for fans to guarantee games are held with capacity crowds going forward. This is despite the Government revealing vaccine passports won't be required after social-distancing restrictions are lifted later this month.

The aim would be to create a Covid-free environment at the stadia's within the top tier of English football, in order to guarantee for full capacity potential for spectators, and therefore ensure clubs can maximise their matchday revenue with the abundance of match-going fans. Of course it will also reassure those fans who may be sceptical of returning to stadia whilst infection rates remain quite high.

Under the proposals being developed in consultation with the government's Events Research Programme, supporters may need to produce a Covid Status Certificate, in either the form of evidence of two vaccinations or a negative lateral flow test, to attain entrance to matches in the top flight next season.

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Whilst the government have sanctioned the return of full capacities for spectators at all sports and entertainment venues after the nationwide reopening on July 19th, Premier League executives are conscious that a worsening of the hospitalisation rates could lead to restrictions being re-introduced in the winter and want to ensure they are unaffected by this uncertainty.

Unlike other leagues and sporting authorities, the Premier League will continue to test players and staff for Covid-19 twice-a-week, while the number of tests made available to each will be increased from 85 to over 100. In contrast the EFL have abandoned weekly testing and will only reintroduce it if there is an outbreak at a club, while they currently have no plans to bring in Covid certification.

The grass court tennis championships at Wimbledon has seen an increase of crowds this week, with Centre Court at 75% capacity. With The All England Club confirming they will be the first major outdoor sporting event to increase capacities to 100% for the quarter-finals, the semis and finals of the competitions on both Court one and Centre Court. Those in attendance must display evidence of being either fully vaccinated (received both jabs and waited at least two weeks), provide proof of a negative COVID test, or have immunity from a recent infection.

As the government's pilot schemes ramp up the capacity allowances there is also expectation for full stadiums during England's Test series against India starting on August 4th, as well as at the Goodwood racecourse meeting at the end of July. This is all due to the successes of the vaccination rollouts but also the results of the government's Events Research Programme which showed just eight Covid-19 cases were identified among the 30,000 fans who attended football pilot events in April and May.