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Sports organizations will get a boost tomorrow as the crowds will be allowed to return as part of the government’s new medium-term Covid-19 plan.
The framework will establish five levels of the virus and related restrictions that will apply across the country for the next six to nine months.
RTÉ Sport understands that the document will allow spectators to return to sporting events, with 500 allowed at the club level and 5,000 for larger venues like Croke Park and Aviva Stadium.
Spectator admission is likely to be affected if a county or region is subject to some form of lockdown, or restrictions are put in place to combat an increase in cases in a particular part of the country.
Since August 18, all sporting events in the 26 counties have been held without spectators. The measures introduced by the government were not well received in all sectors, and the GAA requested “empirical evidence” to explain the decision.
The return of the crowds will certainly be welcome, as a series of events will come to a close in a year in which the GAA All-Ireland Finals will be played just before Christmas.
The situation in the Six Counties is different. As of July 23, the Northern Ireland Executive lifted the ban on crowds attending sporting events, and the numbers will be determined by venue in accordance with public health councils. Since then, we have had between 400 and 500 spectators at GAA club games across the province.
In the south, things have not been so smooth since the resumption of all sports on June 29. The green light was given for 200 to be present at outdoor events, rising to 500 as of July 20. Then-Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said gatherings of fewer than 5,000 people could be possible from September.
And so began the GAA club championship, along with the resumption of the League of Ireland. The 200-person limit includes players, backroom teams, media, officials, stewards, and the rest of the core of volunteers who come together to organize matches, which means that most GAA club games, for example , have had a maximum of 100 fans present.
Still, it was a start.
However, as the numbers have risen again, before the new restrictions imposed on Kildare, Laois and Offaly counties, the government delayed the increase of 200 at a meeting held on August 4.
When asked why people cannot watch sports with social distancing, while those who play sports are in close contact, @MichealMartinTD says “I understand your point, the laity would immediately ask that question”, but that the main risk is in what happens before and after the game pic.twitter.com/BCjuWh4BGd
– RTÉ News (@rtenews) August 18, 2020
And then, fifteen days later, the decision was made to ban the attendance of spectators to the venues. The restriction was in effect until yesterday, Sunday, September 13.
The imminent government announcement is expected to bring crowds back to the venues this coming weekend.
Last Friday, the FAI, GAA and IRFU announced that they would combine forces to prepare a presentation to the Government on the safe return of fans to stadiums in Ireland. This collaborative approach certainly underlies the requirement for an environment on the grounds.
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