Johannesburg – A maximum of 2 000 soccer fans will be returning to the stadium after spending almost a year and seven months without being allowed inside to watch a match live.
The recent revelations come following the announcement made by the Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs (CoGTA) minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, that government has amended regulations to allow fans to watch the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifier clash between Bafana Bafana and Ethiopia.
In a released amended regulation 69 of the Disaster Management Act, the amended regulations states that sporting events, including professional and non-professional matches, by recognised bodies are allowed subject to strict Covid-19 adherence.
Sporting events were prohibited to allow fans in the stadium following the Covid-19 storm when it made an outbreak in March last year.
Meanwhile, Fifa secretary-general Fatma Samoura called on the South African Football Association and the government to authorise the return of spectators at stadiums.
Last Friday, the South African Football Association (Safa) met with the health department to discuss logistics that will see spectators return to soccer stadiums.
Safa then confirmed that minister of health, Joe Phaahla welcomed the recommendations made by the association for fans to return to watch live soccer for the first time.
According to the amended regulations, CoGTA minister Dlamini-Zuma stipulated the following regulations:
- Directions for sports issued by the cabinet member responsible for sport after consultation with the cabinet member responsible for health.
- Spectators at the venue of the sports events are permitted but limited to 750 persons or less for indoor and 2,000 persons or less for outdoor venues.
- If the venue is too small to hold the prescribed number of persons observing a distance of at least 1.5m from each other, then not more than 50% of the capacity of the venue may be used, subject to strict adherence to all health and protocols and social distancing measures.
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