Korea

Fans Allowed Back Into Stadiums in South Korea

By: , August 6, 2020 3:55 pm
Credit – Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors FC Official

After a long wait, football fans in South Korea were allowed back into stadiums for Matchday 14 of the K-League season.

For the first time since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, football fans in South Korea were allowed to attend games in the stadiums to support their clubs.

According to this report by Yonhap News, nearly 9,000 fans attended the K-League’s six fixtures over the weekend, as Jeonbuk Hyundai, Seongnam FC, Incheon United, Suwon Samsung Bluewings, Gangwon FC and Busan I Park played home matches.

Tickets were only sold up to 10% of each stadium’s respective capacity, totaling 13,194 across all six grounds. Of those, only 8,984 (68.1%) were actually sold for last weekend’s games.

This also came with a host of new rules for fans to follow. Ticket sales were exclusively online and fans had to enter the stadium in an orderly and socially-distanced manner, checking in through QR code. Food and drink were banned from the stadium, and mask-wearing was required at all times.

However, despite the changes, the return of fans is a massive boost to the league and clubs. With the protocol for a safe return to stadiums now laid out, football supporters in other countries hope their leagues will follow suit as well.