The end of the year 2021 has airs of déjà vu for the sports community. Faced with the omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2, which is fueling the increase in Covid-19 contamination, Prime Minister Jean Castex announced, Monday, December 27, the return of gauges in places open to the public, including sports halls and stadiums.
The measure, effective from Monday January 3 and for an initial period of three weeks, sets at 2,000 the number of people who can attend an event indoors and at 5,000 in the case of outdoor enclosures. Any consumption of drinks and other food will also be prohibited.
The sports calendar already affected
Matches of the French rugby, volleyball and basketball championships postponed, preparation for the Euro handball disrupted … For several days, the health situation had already wavered the sports calendar and the community feared a return to closed doors.
Basketball, handball, volleyball, rugby, but also football clubs have not yet fully recovered financially from the deep crisis caused by the previous waves of Covid-19.
During the first confinement, in March 2020, professional sport was forced to a total halt. When the championships resumed in September 2020, gauge restrictions had been put in place in theaters and stadiums, before the closed session was imposed from the end of October.
This sequence had drawn the accounts of the clubs in the red, the ticket office being particularly heavy for sports such as rugby, or the so-called “BHV” indoor sports (basketball, handball, volleyball).
All these sports had a little smile again from May 2021, when the return of the public had been authorized by respecting very restrictive gauges (800 spectators for the closed enclosures, 1000 outside). The situation had returned to normal since this summer and the resumption of the various championships.
Monday’s government announcements come as numerous posters of the 16es France football Cup finals are scheduled for Sunday January 2. Unless the French Football Federation decides, these should take place under normal conditions. The matches between Paris-Saint-Germain in Vannes, on January 3, and RC Lens in Lille, the next day, will however be affected by these new measures.