Ticket please, & passport too
Digital health passports may be 'new normal' to allow fans back into sports stadiums again
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
A Manchester City staff member is seen wearing a mask outside the Etihad Stadium before the team's match against Arsenal yesterday, as the Premier League resumes following a three-month coronavirus-enforced hiatus.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Follow topic:
LONDON • The remainder of the Premier League season will be held behind closed doors, but digital health passports could help get football fans back through the turnstiles next season, according to the company carrying out Covid-19 testing for the English top flight.
Hong Kong-based genetic testing and digital health company Prenetics said on Tuesday it had launched the first such offering for professional sports competitions amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Since winning the £4 million (S$7 million) contract, the start-up has tested 8,687 Premier League players and staff for the virus as part of requirements for the return to action.
Avi Lasarow, Prenetics' chief executive officer for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, told Reuters that digital health passports offer the potential for eventually allowing matches to be played in front of large crowds again.
"It's going to be a big game-changer in terms of linking Covid-19 testing results... to a digital access mechanism based on biometrics and other such factors," he said in a Zoom interview.
"With any innovation, you're always thinking about what the end goal is... in the world of sport, it's about getting fans back into the stadium.
"You could see a position whereby fans scan their health passport information very securely to determine whether their test is valid and they have a negative Covid-19 result."
Lasarow added that the passport could also be used by employers keen to get employees back to work at physical sites, with Prenetics recently securing a contract in the aviation sector.
With the coronavirus presenting a major problem until a vaccine or suitable treatment is found, Prenetics is also in talks with other leagues to expand testing beyond the Premier League.
"Right now, we are talking to all the major sports associations," co-founder and chief executive officer Danny Yeung said. These include rugby, cricket and racing.
The digital health passport is a web-based platform that shows a person's Covid-19 testing status and history by scanning a QR code to secure access to any venues where safety is a concern.
Participants would enrol via e-mail and upload a profile photograph to be verified by the sponsoring club before they can unlock a personal code.
The health passport will then be accessible via mobile phone. The cost of regular testing has, however, been highlighted as an obstacle for some fans and is likely to prove prohibitive for casual fans looking to watch a one-off game.
Covid-19 tests done in Singapore can cost up to $200.
But Yeung insisted Prenetics was not in the business of turning a profit, but rather it was its "responsibility to do something for Covid".
He added: "If the community gets back a little bit to normal, it's better for everyone involved - the community, our employees and our future business."
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, REUTERS
