Twickenham 'open' for fans
NEWS: Officials aim to welcome up to 20,000 supporters to Twickenham for England’s match against the Barbarians next month.
Pilot events are taking place in several sports in England with a view to reopening doors to a limited degree from October 1.
Tickets for the Barbarians match on October 25 went on sale on Wednesday.
Eddie Jones’ men are scheduled to travel to Rome to take on Italy in the postponed Six Nations contest a week later.
“We continue to work closely with government and the local authority on the return of sports fans to the stadium,” said Rugby Football Union Chief Executive Bill Sweeney.
“The numbers of fans able to attend, given social-distancing requirements, will be significantly lower than normal and subject to final agreement from the government.”
He said a test event would be held to test operational plans and demonstrate Twickenham was well-prepared.
The RFU said it had robust plans in place.
“The number of fans allowed into Twickenham Stadium for the fixture is based on social-distancing requirements to mitigate against the risk of COVID-19 transmission,” the RFU said in a statement.
“Subject to obtaining the relevant licence and approvals including those from public health authorities, spectator numbers will be up to 20,000 – less than 25 percent of the stadium’s total 82,000 capacity.”
