(Reuters) – Britain’s sports minister Oliver Dowden is confident sports events can welcome back capacity crowds from June 21, though he said some “high-risk” venues would require safety measures.
An easing of COVID-19 restrictions in the government’s roadmap out of lockdown means up to 10,000 fans will be permitted at outdoor sports events in England from Monday, while further easing could push numbers up in June at stage four.
Dowden said the probability of fully reopening venues was now “much higher” than when they first proposed the roadmap in February.
“We are completely on track at the moment with the roadmap (and) the vaccination is rolling out as planned,” Dowden told the Department for Culture Media and Sport Select Committee.
“I have a single-minded determination to get full reopening from June 21. With every passing day I get more confident that we can achieve that.
“There will have to be in … the highest risk areas some kind of mitigations required … I cannot give the full assurance until we get to the stage of announcing stage four.”
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