There was a time when the absence of live sport in our lives was an unbearable gulf that could only be bridged by the athletic prowess of good boys Olive and Mabel. At The18, we spent hours crafting articles of Search Engine Optimization to answer “when will soccer return?” and we didn’t do it just for you — we did it for ourselves.
If you’re a West Ham fan, you know what it’s like to sit a million lightyears away from the pitch. The London stadium has proven to be … not so viewer friendly. Being so far away from the action means missing a lot of it.
But, West Ham’s London Stadium is set to become more “football friendly” for the 2020-21 season. Two new stands will be added to the stadium behind the goals. Seats will be moved up to 4 meters closer to the pitch.
Every fan base believes it is the loudest, the most loyal and the most involved in its club's success. They will point to statistics like crowd size, decibel level and home record to show that their crowds are superior to all others. But what if, instead of looking at games with crowds, we actually studied matches without fans.
Spain's health minister has expressed doubt about the prospect of spectators returning to soccer matches in September due to the threat of a resurgence in COVID-19 infections.
The government's department for sport and organizing body LaLiga had hoped to let fans back into stadiums at a reduced capacity when the new season starts in September, increasing to 50% in November before full capacity returned in January.
BERLIN — Top-flight German soccer club Union Berlin is so keen to see its stadium filled with fans once again that it is prepared to pay for coronavirus tests for all staff and 22,012 season ticket holders so that they can safely pack the stands.
Most of the world's stadiums have been all but empty for months since the advent of the new-style coronavirus forced social distancing regulations that prevented the kinds of giant crowd gatherings that lend soccer games their ambiance.
BERLIN — German soccer fans may be able to return to stadiums to cheer on their heroes in national team and Bundesliga matches soon, the German Football Association (DFB) and the German football league (DFL) said on Friday.
The two bodies are working with health authorities on ways to reduce the risk of infection from COVID-19 at matches as well as on the way to and from the stadium.
MADRID — Four of Spain's largest construction firms are competing for a contract to upgrade soccer club Barcelona's Camp Nou stadium, having submitted preliminary offers last week, five sources close to the matter said on Wednesday.
Infrastructure heavyweights Ferrovial, Sacyr, FCC and Acciona have each paired up with local companies to bid for the project called "Espai Barça" — or "Barca Space" — the sources said.
One source in the construction sector said the project was worth approximately 300 million euros ($340 million).
Soccer matches in England have been played in empty stadiums since leagues restarted in June, but that didn't stop a faction of Portsmouth supporters from attending their side's match against Oxford United on Wednesday.
Professional soccer returned to Japan on Saturday after more than a three-month layoff. While the first round of matches was played in empty arenas, fans of Japanese soccer will now be able to attend games in person.
Beginning Friday, July 10, capacity at matches will be limited to 5,000 fans, or 50 percent capacity in stadiums that hold less than 10,000 spectators. The announcement was made following a joint coronavirus task force meeting Monday that included health officials and leaders from Japanese sports leagues.