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Wales' sporting bodies rally together to urge Government to allow fans back in

:Headline: Wales' sporting bodies rally together to urge Government to allow fans back in: ID:425545: from db_amp
Some fans in England have been allowed to return to stadiums and watch events.

Wales' major sporting bodies have written to the Welsh Government urging it to allow fans back into stadiums and prevent the "real risk of bankruptcy for our sports".

The letter to Wales' First Minister Mark Drakeford asks him to reconsider the stance during the Covid-19 pandemic that supporters will not be allowed to return to sport soon.

Some sports fans in England have been allowed to return to stadiums during the last week, with Tier 1 capacities set at a maximum of 4,000 and Tier 2 areas half of that.

But fans in Wales, like Tier 3 areas in England, are prohibited from attending sporting events, and representatives from cricket, football, horse racing and rugby union have united to call for change from the Welsh Government.

The 15 organisations who have signed the letter, written by Cardiff City chief executive Steve Borley, include the Football Association of Wales and Welsh Rugby Union.

The letter published on Cardiff's website said: "Sport is a fundamental part of life in Wales. It puts our nation on the global stage and provides communities across Wales with a sense of belonging and identity.

"We form part of an an industry that employs thousands of people across the country, our contribution to the Welsh economy, employment and well-being is significant, but this is now at risk.

Wales First Minister Mark Drakeford has said fans will not be allowed to return to sport stadiums soon because of coronavirus (Ben Birchall/PA)

"We urge Welsh Government to reconsider its approach to the socially-distanced return of fans to our sports grounds by embracing the current Sports Grounds Safety Authority (SGSA) guidance known as 'SGO2' and withdraw the variant 'SG02W' which has been requested by Welsh Government."

The letter says an in-person and virtual meeting was held at Cardiff City Stadium on November 30 to consider the socially-distanced return of fans to stadium.

It was attended by Welsh Government and representatives from WRU, FAW, the Welsh rugby regions, Glamorgan cricket, horse racing and Welsh professional football clubs.

"Taking a more cautious approach, the Welsh Government asked the SGSA to prepare a version of SG02 based on a social distance of two metres," the letter adds.

“The situation is grave; the lack of a clear road map for the return of spectators in Wales poses the real risk of bankruptcy for our sports”
- Open letter to Wales First Minister Mark Drakeford

"A draft (SG02W) has been received and circulated, but not published. We as a group of national governing bodies and senior clubs urge that this draft be withdrawn and that the Welsh Government also embrace the highly-regarded SG02 version and subsequently allow test events to be run using this guidance, with events taking place as soon as possible.

"We say this because while SG02 reduces expected attendances to between 25% and 35% of capacity depending on concourse densities and stadium layouts.

"The Welsh version would further reduce capacity to under 10%, a level which in effect closes our businesses to the public indefinitely.

"At the meeting, all sporting organisations were extremely disappointed by the lack of prior consultation and the entrenched position adopted by Welsh Government officials during the meeting left us full of concern.

"The situation is grave; the lack of a clear roadmap for the return of spectators in Wales poses the real risk of bankruptcy for our sports."

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Premier League Table
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Tottenham HotspurSpurs117312391424
2Liverpool117312617924
3Chelsea1164125111422
4Leicester CityLeicester117042115621
5Southampton116232117420
6Manchester UnitedMan Utd106131917219
7Manchester CityMan City105321711618
8West Ham UnitedWest Ham115241814417
9Everton115242018217
10Wolverhampton WanderersWolves115241115-417
11Crystal Palace115151716116
12Aston Villa95042013715
13Newcastle UnitedNewcastle104241215-314
14Leeds UnitedLeeds114251620-414
15Arsenal114161014-413
16Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton112451518-310
17Fulham112181121-107
18Burnley10136518-136
19West Bromwich AlbionWest Brom11137823-156
20Sheffield UnitedSheff Utd110110518-131
Scroll for more - Tap for full version
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