The return of fans to Premier League stadiums is up in the air once again as football continues to battle the effects of the coronavirus pandemic.
Following a three-month hiatus, the 2019/20 season restarted on June 17 with games held behind-closed-doors for the rest of the campaign.
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The season finished in late July and now top-flight teams face a quick turnaround before the new season gets underway.
Stadiums were due to reopen for supporters from October 3, three weeks after the first round of games in the 2020/21 campaign.
But the latest government restrictions on the public looks set to force that date back.
Current guidelines state that gatherings of over six people are banned for the foreseeable future, meaning football crowds will not be permitted.
Despite that setback, Premier League chief executive Richard Masters remains confident that stadiums will be back at full capacity by the end of the 2020-21 season.
“We remain very optimistic that can be achieved, that’s our ambition and our objective and we’re doing everything we can,” he said.
“We’re very pleased the government has set up this new technology and innovation group to look at how sport and entertainment can provide certain mitigation to investments into health passports and additional hygiene measures.
“That’s what that group is there for, we’re members of it and very supportive of it, what that will allow us to do hopefully is that when stadiums are allowed to take people in, we can move swiftly beyond the SGSA guidelines and move towards full capacity.”
The Premier League announced recently that all 28 matches in September would be shown on TV as no fans will be allowed inside grounds.
A decision on whether to extend that into October will follow and Masters adding ‘when we know the full picture’ regarding the return of spectators.
There are clearly huge complications in getting fans back but UEFA chief Aleksander Ceferin is ‘absolutely sure’ football will return to normal ‘very soon’.
Ceferin said: “It’s a serious situation but it is going down now and we are being more cautious.
“We know more about the virus and in general I’m an optimistic person.
“I don’t like this apocalyptic view that we have to wait for the second and third waves or even a fifth wave … people you know are likely to die one day, but do we have to be worried today? I don’t think so.
“We are ready and we will follow the recommendations of the authorities but I’m absolutely sure, personally, that good old football with fans will come back very soon.”
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