Bielsa questions fairness of return of fans policy

LONDON • The return of fans, albeit severely restricted, for select Premier League clubs has drawn a mixed reaction from managers.

With a month-long national lockdown to contain the spread of the coronavirus set to be lifted on Wednesday, the British government has said up to 4,000 fans can attend outdoor elite sports events, including English top-flight games, in the lowest-risk medium alert areas.

Premier League clubs in London and Liverpool can welcome up to 2,000 fans as they fall under the high alert Tier 2 zone. But the Manchester teams, City and United, and Leeds and others in the Midlands and north will have to wait longer as their areas have been classified as belonging to the very high alert Tier 3 zone.

Arsenal's Europa League tie with Rapid Vienna on Thursday will be the first football game held in Britain to have fans back since March, when the Premier League was halted for three months because of the pandemic.

Supporters can attend top-flight games that same weekend, but with the restrictions essentially blocking 10 out of the 20 Premier League clubs, Leeds boss Marcelo Bielsa believes it is an unfair situation.

"Perhaps there could be a rule that states that if fans are not allowed in all stadiums, then they should not be allowed in at all until everybody is allowed to have them in," the Argentinian told reporters.

"It shouldn't be about the category, or the consequences of being in a category, it should be about trying to maintain the competition as equal as possible with things that are controllable.

"The presence of the fans has an effect on the results. What the organisation says is people who are from places where there's a higher risk of infection will be penalised."

But not everyone shared Bielsa's view.

Newcastle manager Steve Bruce, whose club also cannot host any fans, appreciated the "small gesture" but questioned the maximum limit as the size of stadiums was not being taken into account.

"I can understand 4,000 fans if it's an 8,000-seat stadium but what I can't quite digest at the moment is why only 4,000 or 2,000 when we've got the capacity to... comfortably put 15,000 to 20,000 people in," he said.​

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Arsenal, Brighton, Chelsea, Crystal Palace, Everton, Fulham, Liverpool, Southampton, Tottenham, West Ham

Aston Villa, Burnley, Leeds, Leicester, Man City, Man United, Newcastle, Sheffield United, West Brom, Wolves

Crystal Palace boss Roy Hodgson, whose side can welcome supporters, added a crowd of 2,000 was not enough to be a differentiating factor.

"I don't think 2,000 fans in a stadium will make a sizeable difference in terms of fair competition," he said. "It is more a matter of it being such a great thing for the fans to enjoy."

REUTERS