The stadiums in the Eredivisie and Keuken Kampioen Division will remain full for a maximum of two-thirds until September 20, resigned Prime Minister Mark Rutte announced at the corona press conference. Initially, the restrictive measure applied to the public in professional football until September 1, but the caretaker cabinet considers it necessary to extend this by three weeks.
This summer it originally even seemed that the Eredivisie and Keuken Kampioen Division would be allowed to start the season with full stadiums, but the cabinet already threw a spanner in the works at the beginning of August. The extension of that measure means that at least the first five rounds in the Eredivisie and the first six rounds in the Kitchen Champion Division will be played with a maximum of 67 percent of the occupation. This means that, for example, PSV – Feyenoord, the first clash between the classic top three, will be played on Sunday 19 September in a partly empty Philips Stadium.
In principle, the intention is to release the restrictions from September 20: then football matches can be played at full capacity. The outgoing cabinet will make a final decision on this on Friday 17 September, depending on the infection figures at that time. At professional football matches, visitors must be able to show a corona ticket based on a full vaccination, a valid recovery certificate or a negative test result of a maximum of 24 hours old.
In the past year, the clubs regularly expressed strong criticism of the cabinet policy. That was no different at the beginning of August, when the KNVB, Eredivisie and Keuken Kampioen Division called the two-thirds occupancy rate ‘for the stage’. “This is another major disappointment for everyone in football,” the statement read at the beginning of this month. “We do everything in our power to minimize risk. Our strict protocols and Testing for Access in football are very effective in ensuring the health and safety of our public. This mitigation measure is purely for the stage. After all, we are already going through the one and a half meters with a two-thirds occupancy rate.”
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