30 minutes is the time it took for the Dutch supporters to buy one of the 5,000 tickets on sale to see Netherlands-Latvia on March 27 in Amsterdam in the 2022 World Cup qualifiers. C It is within the framework of an experiment that the Dutch leaders authorized this gauge of spectators tested negative in order to attend the meeting.
"It shows that people are anxious to return to the stadiums after a year of restriction due to the coronavirus, to have remained seated at home," said Gijs de Jong, general secretary of the Netherlands football federation (KNVB ), to the Dutch media on Thursday.
A match that will serve as a study
When in France the Minister for Sports, Roxana Maracineanu, admitted that it would be difficult to see the public during the French team's match against Ukraine on March 24, the Netherlands did not hesitate, them, to try the experiment.
The Dutch football federation will take advantage of the March 27 poster to carry out a study concerning a possible return of the public to the stadiums.
The supporters will be divided into different “bubbles”, some will wear masks and have to observe distances while others will be able to shout and cheer the teams.
Spectators must all present a negative Covid-19 test in advance to attend the match.
And this thanks to an application which will bring together the entry ticket as well as the result of the test.
Earlier this year, two second division matches had already been the subject of similar studies in the Netherlands with some 1,500 spectators present.
A test before the Euro?
Amsterdam's Johan Cruyff Arena is also set to host four Euro 2021 posters next summer.
A study that would allow the Netherlands to be fixed on the possibility or not of welcoming the public a few days after UEFA's statement on this subject.
The European football body has indeed announced that it wants the public to be present during the competition this summer, even if it means changing the location of certain matches if they cannot accommodate spectators.