The Liga MX authorizes the fans of Necaxa and Mazatlán to return to the stadiums

The Necaxa stadium, in Victoria, Aguascalientes, empty during the sixth day of the 2020 Guardianes tournament in August.Cesar Gomez / Getty Images

Football with an audience returns to Mexican stadiums.

After four empty months, Liga MX announced this Wednesday that they will open their doors to fans in a "focused, gradual and orderly manner."

The first clubs chosen to play matches with fans are Necaxa, from Aguascalientes, and Mazatlán FC, from Sinaloa.

The date set is this Friday, when the teams will face Tijuana and FC Juárez, respectively, within the framework of the 2020 Guardians tournament.

The return will be under the rules of the new normal imposed by the covid-19.

Stadiums may not exceed 50% of capacity - in the case of the Kraken, Mazatlán FC's space has been restricted to 30% - and fans will have to be seated 1.5 meters away from safety.

In addition, you will not be able to watch the game standing up, in the corridors or on the stairs, according to the fan protocol agreed between the Ministry of Health and the MX League.

There are more changes: you will not be able to smoke inside the stadium, although the food and beverage stores will be open;

It will not be allowed to enter any object of support to the teams (nor flags of any size, instruments or pyrotechnics);

the ticket offices will remain closed, so tickets can only be purchased online (maximum four per family) and children under 12 years old will not be able to access.

As it has become customary, it will be mandatory to wear face masks from entering the stadium and the League encourages clubs to have replacement masks in case a fan does not bring theirs.

Only groups of two people separated from each other will be allowed in the grandstands and the boxes and VIP areas will be reduced to 50%.

The exclusive areas for people in wheelchairs will be maintained, although the capacity will also be limited to half.

In addition to the general rules, each club can establish its own protocol.

Thus, for example, in the Mazatlán FC stadium there will be no parking and only two people can sit together.

At the moment, the animation areas for the teams will be kept closed to avoid the concentration of people and the separation between the players and the public will be increased.

An area that the protocol calls "cold area" and has physical barriers and security personnel behind the benches, where substitute players are currently located, to prevent fans from having contact with them.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, a trail of cases has been registered within Mexican soccer.

For example, in the Xolos de Tijuana - which will play one of the first games with the public this Friday - 30 infections were confirmed, 14 of them from players.

According to ESPN data, in September, 115 first division players had already tested positive for coronavirus, 22% of the squad.

Pachuca was then the only team free of coronavirus.

In addition to the already traditional sanitization, temperature taking and gel disposal, the stadiums must have a new special medical area for the identification and diagnosis of fans or staff with symptoms of covid-19.

Liga MX has recognized that these measures in no case eliminate the risk of infection, but rather minimize it.

The protocol, whose initial creation date was in August, will continue to be updated according to the criteria of the Ministry of Health.

In Mexico, the coronavirus has left 825,000 infected people and 84,400 deaths.