The opening weekend of the Premier League season 2021/22 in mid-August is expected to be played in full-capacity arenas as British government ministers are on track to end the remaining social distance action in England on 19 July.
The original roadmap had planned for June 21, but concerns about rising cases of coronavirus and specifically the contagious “Delta” variant saw it pushed back.
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But as life gradually begins to return to normal, fans are already allowed to return to football stadiums in increasing numbers.
Each Premier League club was able to play its last home game last season in front of a small number of supporters – for many teams it was the first time in over a year.
Many Premier League clubs had played behind closed doors for over a year before supporters were released / Robbie Jay Barratt – AMA / Getty Images
England’s Euro 2020 group stage at Wembley allowed around 20,000 fans to take part, and the number increased to just under 42,000 for the last 16 matches against Germany. Both the semi-finals and the final of the competition are back at Wembley, with the limits increased to 60,000, which corresponds to 75% of the stadium’s usual full capacity.
When the Premier League season is ready to start in six weeks, The Guardian writes that clubs are expected to have permission to fill their stadium. However, it is said that the Premier League supports a potential system that would require ‘COVID certification’ to ensure that mass events can continue to occur during the winter season.
If there is pressure to start reducing capacity with a winter nail, the Premier League would hope to carry out “COVID status checks”. Such certification is considered more likely than recurring restrictions if there are additional problems in the coming months.
This effectively means that fans may need to prove vaccination information or test results.
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