DURBAN - SPORTING bodies have welcomed the decision to allow 50% of fans back into stadiums for live matches.
The announcement was made by President Cyril Ramaphosa last week. He said fans would be allowed in stadiums, with a maximum of 50% stadium capacity on condition that a fully vaccinated certificate or a negative Covid-19 test not older than 72 hours was provided.
Cricket South Africa (CSA) said it was excited to welcome fans back into the stadiums before the start of the first Test match between South Africa and Bangladesh in Durban today.
“This is great news. We have been pushing since October for spectators to be allowed back into cricket stadiums. We actually hoped that we would be able to get spectators earlier on in the summer during the Proteas home matches, but we are still happy with the spectators being back,” said CSA CEO Pholetsi Moseki.
He said CSA called on fans to be responsible when attending matches.
“We hope fans will follow all the rules and also ensure that they are fully vaccinated. As much as we are pleased to have 50% of fans back in stadiums, we want to get to a stage where 100% of supporters are back. I’m excited and looking forward to seeing the atmosphere at Kingsmead, and expect it to be pumping.”
The Premier Soccer League (PSL) also said it was looking forward to welcoming fans to live matches next week. PSL chairperson Dr Irvin Khoza said the PSL has targeted April 8 and 9 to welcome back fans to live matches.
“It's been a long wait for all of us in football, especially among the supporters, spectators and stakeholders.
We have earmarked the Nedbank Cup quarter-final matches on April 8 and 9 to welcome fans back to stadiums. As the announcement by President Rampahosa said, you have to provide a certificate proving full vaccination, or a negative Covid-19 test not older than 72 hours.”
Khoza said as much as they had missed the fans at matches, compliance was important.
“When a supporter purchases a ticket they must ensure that they come to the stadium with their identity document and vaccination certificate, or negative Covid-19 result. We want supporters to know that we will be strict about compliance as we want to push for 100% of fans to be allowed back into stadiums.
“We want to encourage supporters to get vaccinated as we want to be at a stage where more supporters can come to live matches.”
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