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Government warned delaying return of crowds could 'kill sport in this country'

A general view of fans social distancing in the stands during the Vitality T20 Blast match at The Kia Ova - PA
A general view of fans social distancing in the stands during the Vitality T20 Blast match at The Kia Ova - PA

The Government was on Wednesday warned it will "kill sport in this country" if it delays the October 1 return of crowds in stadiums because of a second spike in Covid-19.

Plans for the return of spectators were plunged back into chaos as Boris Johnson announced a review of the current ambition for partial reopenings of all venues by next month.

Millions of pounds were immediately wiped off potential takings for venues on Wednesday as the Government also scaled down crowd numbers for pilot events to just 1,000 as part of a wider new clampdown on gatherings. However, governing bodies warned later that clubs and venues will go out of business if the current review ordered by the Prime Minister leads to further delays.  In other developments on a dramatic day of setbacks for sport's recovery from the pandemic:

  • The St Leger Festival was forced to abandon its crowd pilot just hours after opening its doors to spectators after the Director of Public Health for Doncaster, Dr Rupert Suckling, declared the racecourse was only safe to continue behind closed doors for the remaining days.

  • Richard Masters, chief executive of the Premier League, warned empty stadiums "can't go on forever" throughout the football pyramid, adding it was "absolutely critical" to get fans inside football stadiums soon.

  • Plans for Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United fans inside their home stadiums this month were derailed as the Government omitted them in its announcement for more pilots for cricket and rugby.

As trailed by the Daily Telegraph on Tuesday, ministers resisted pressure to immediately postone all crowds as social gathering limits were reduced to six after infection cases rose to their highest rates since May.

However, in a Downing Street address, the Prime Minister announced arrangements around the return of crowds were being reviewed, "but that doesn't mean we are going to scrap the programme entirely."

Mr Johnson announced a potential "alternative plan" which could allow life to return "closer to normality" using 20-minute tests at "workplaces, theatres and sports venues" in Salford.

However, in a sign that hopes of grounds being a third full next month were overly ambitious, capacities for the remaining 12 pilots at stadiums elsewhere were immediately reduced to 1,000 spectators.

In the Premier League, Daniel Levy shelved hopes of allowing 4,000 of Tottenham’s highest-paying supporters into the ground to watch Sunday’s Premier League opener against Everton. United, meanwhile, are set to give up on proposals to allow 12,000 fans into Old Trafford for their league game against Crystal Palace.

Sport has been planning for an October return of crowds for two months. Governing bodies warned of irreparable damage facing both the elite and grass-roots if further delays are ordered.  Twickenham is among a host of stadiums which estimates it needs a half full venue to turn a profit.

Masters, head of the world's most lucrative domestic league, said a failure to get fans back inside stadiums this season would risk clubs potentially doubling losses of £700million. “The longer that fans are outside the stadium in numbers the more significant the financial impact on clubs," he said. "There is perhaps a perception that the Premier League can perpetually stage financial difficulties and that isn’t the case."

Brighton's stadium the Amex during a test event with some fans - PA
Brighton's stadium the Amex during a test event with some fans - PA

Further down the pyramid, clubs say potential delays will push a host of clubs over the edge. Andy Holt, chairman of Accrington Stanley, told Telegraph Sport: "Any uncertainty over the crowds is a disaster, but it's a bigger disaster for people that get the virus so we understand this.... I can't think of anything worse in terms of uncertainty than this virus. I've been in businesses for 30 odd years now, and I've never known uncertainty like it because you just can't see an end to it."

The Government said in a statement that it was introducing new limits on pilots to help with social distancing, and that events "will not be able to take place in areas that have high coronavirus incidence rates".

“In light of increasing transmission rates, the Government is reviewing the proposed sports and business events pilots ahead of the 1 October and we will unfortunately need to scale some back, said Oliver Dowden, the Culture Secretary.

New pilot events announced on Wednesday included Gloucester v Harlequins rugby on Sept 14, men's T20 cricket at Yorkshire, Lancashire and Hampshire vs Surrey, as well as women's T20 at Western Storm. Among pilots already planned this month is the speedway British final at Ipswich on Sept 26. Rob Godfrey, chairman of British Speedway Promoters Ltd, issued a grave warning for all sports if the Government eventually postpones the Oct 1 crowd return.

“If they do, they’ll kill sport in this country," Godfrey added. "Sport in this country apart from Premier League and Championship football will die. There’s no question. I understand there’s got to be a balance but there’s got to be people’s choices as well. If they want to go, let them go. If they don’t want to go, respect that and don’t go.”

Plans to halve crowd numbers at the speedway later this month will cost the cash-strapped sport £20,000. “It’s just like a kick in the b******s," he told Telegraph Sport. “To get to this point where we can actually sell tickets and plan for it has taken an awful lot of people’s time and effort.”

Sir Rodney Walker, chairman of the British Basketball League which is also part of the pilot, told Telegraph Sport playing without crowds, he said, was a "non-starter in case someone compensates us for the loss of gate income”.

The review comes after a chaotic day at Doncaster, which had earlier been opening its gates to the first racecourse crowd in six months before public health specialists announced it was not safe to continue to do so from Thursday. The cancellation of crowds was said to have cost organisers around £250,000.

Although grass-roots participation sport is largely unaffected, the change could have significant implications for the National League who, like the Premier League an English Football League, are classed as elite football. Clubs had already put back their season start to October, the earliest return date for fans, as the competition is not deemed financially viable for most clubs without supporters.