Return To Elite Sport : A New Playing Field For Players, Spectators And Stadia Managers In The Covid-19 Area

Tony McGlennan, Legal Director, Addleshaw Goddard

Football in Europe, in the Bundesliga at least, is back with us. Project Restart anticipates that the Premier League will soon follow suit. Realistically the mass gathering prohibition still necessary to control the epidemic will not be eased. As with Germany, for now at least, it will be football without spectators.

Even then there remains the fear that supporters of clubs may congregate in close proximity to home grounds during matches, thus increasing the prospect of transmission and draining police resource. To minimise that risk the use of neutral grounds appears at present to be the proposal of the EPL. However even stadiums devoid of fans will have to be prepared carefully.

The UK Government has busied itself of late with advice for different work sectors upon re-opening work places. None, as yet, has looked as yet at the return of the use of stadia, but it is very likely that such guidance will be published ahead of any competitive matches. So what might we expect? The recent Department of Digital Media, Culture and Sport guidance for the return of elite sport training provides some insight, similarly the experience in Germany.

The training guidance emphasises the primacy of existing Health and Safety legislation and principles. Covid-19 is a new risk to health and safety, as such there is a requirement for a suitable and sufficient risk assessment. That can only be achieved where there is consultation with those who operate in the workplace. Thus operators of the stadia will need to involve players, coaching staff, support workers, medical staff and others in order to produce control measures to eliminate or minimise the Covid-19 risk. Clubs who have returned to training have appointed specific COVID-19 officers, and it is likely that they too will contribute to the process. Moreover players and staff may have to specifically "opt in" to resuming playing matches, just as has been the case with training. A further consideration is that Government guidance to industry ("Working safely through Coronavirus") included an expectation that businesses with over 50 employees publish the results of their risk assessment upon their website. It may well be that future guidance concerning use of stadia contains that expectation too.

Considerations stated in the training guidance that would also be expected to be included in any stadium guidance may include testing of participants, conducting of a deep cleaning, and application of social distancing. Those measures would fit with the guidance that the German Football League (DFL) has set out. The controls set out in by the DFL include:

Testing: Players, coaches and all other stadia staff must be tested, at minimum, twice a week and also on the eve of matches. Those who test positive are separated from the group, with the decision of whether the team is quarantined resting with the respective authorities in each of Germany's federal states.

Cleaning: All stadia should be deep cleaned prior to, and after, match day. Further all areas accessed during any training are to be cleaned at the start of and at the end of each training session.

Numbers: The number of persons permitted in the stadium is restricted to the number required for the match to be played safely, and televised and should be no more than 300. For Saturday's Borussia Dortmund v Schalke 04 tie that number was 213. A maximum of 10 journalists are permitted access into the stadium.

Zoning: The DFL places individuals into three zones, one for players and stadia staff members, one for media and security personnel, and the third for all others who have functions around match play. To minimise the prospect of transmission there is strict separation between each of these zones. Only players, match officials, first aid personnel and a small group of photographers are allowed on the pitch.

Social distancing: Social distancing rules must be respected throughout match day. Teams are to arrive in coaches which ensure that each passenger is seated at least 1.5m apart (the German distance). All passengers are also required to wear masks on the team bus. Social distancing rules should be complied with in the changing rooms and on the pitch. Handshakes are banned and only elbow bumps are permitted when a goal is scored. Team pennants and team photos are also banned to ensure that social distancing rules are fully complied with at all times. Mask wearing is compulsory for everyone pitch side, which includes substitutes - only participating players and match officials are exempt. During the game the match balls are to be regularly disinfected. Players are also advised to avoid all physical contact unless necessary during the game.

Media Personnel: Media personnel must have their temperature checked prior to entering the stadium and wear masks throughout. The guidelines go into great detail on the measures which must be taken by TV personnel and journalists to avoid contact during interview including plastic screens erected to separate interviewers and interviewees. Press conferences are banned and the mixed zones are to be closed until further notice.

Of course not everything that we have seen in the Bundesliga will be replicated here, indeed Germany has not opted for neutral stadia. Clubs, local authorities and the police have instead been clear in communicating that fans should not turn up, nor gather outside stadia. Thus far that message has worked. Whether clubs and authorities in the UK will be as confident remains to be seen, but one suspects that many of the other controls upon the risk of Covid-19 at stadiums will be implemented here also.