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Boris Johnson spoke on Monday to unpack the newest phased plan for COVID-19 safety, aiming to have no legal restrictions on social contact by June 2021 given vaccine success, a lack of new variants, and an avoidance of new spikes in infection or hospitalization.
This phased plan includes dates for fans to return to football grounds, and “pilot” events in the English Football League (EFL) are scheduled for April, with current plans in place to allow “a small number” of fans to attend the Carabao Cup final on April 25th.
Given that this and other pilot events are ruled a success, “up to 10,000 people or 25% of total seated capacity, whichever is lower” might return to stadiums, though not before the specified date of the 17th of May.
This means that some Premier League games might have fans in attendance before the end of the 2020/21 season, though the FA Cup final, which is currently scheduled for the 15th of May, might miss out.
Though the rules do not affect sport beyond England, it’s worth noting that the Euros are scheduled to begin in June (given there are any healthy players able to take part), and Wembley is to host seven matches in that tournament, including the final on the 11th of July.