Since 23 May NB1 matches behind closed doors were allowed again. As a next phase, a limited amount of fans were allowed back into the stadium soon after. While for the last three competition rounds, a full capacity was allowed. ESSMA interviewed Máté Bálint - International Project Manager at Ferencvárosi TC - and László Erik Horváth - Infrastructure Expert at MLSZ - regarding the Hungarian restart.
On 18 June, ESSMA hosted its fifth webinar with Matthias Neumann - Head of Security at Borussia Monchengladbach. An interesting session, with numerous questions in the Q&A was the result.
Several of our industry suppliers are launching/have launched webinars to stay in touch with their network and share insights. ESSMA has selected some webinars which are relevant for our industry. Don't hesitate to join when interested!
In Poland, football matches have a very important social and economic role. As a result, experts from the football and stadium industry have been working on plans for the re-opening since April.
Read more on Johan Cruijff ArenA’s pop-up restaurant, Visit Mallorca Estadi, Bundesliga Match Facts and more in ESSMA’s industry update.
As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic most European football clubs are forced to play games in empty stadiums, some clubs are complaining that the lack of home advantage is impacting the integrity of the competition. Of course, the impact on national health should always be our priority, but is there actually any truth the club’s claims? Can home advantage be proven statistically and is there any way we could simulate it, even without physical crowds in the stadium?
The competition in Poland has restarted a few weeks ago and several Ekstraklasa competition rounds have already been played. How did the Polish clubs prepare for it? As 25% of fans are allowed inside the stadium, how to decide which fans can enter? Which social distancing guidelines will they have to follow? And how to adapt the crowd management flows?
ESSMA interviewed both Piotr Bielecki, Deputy Competition Director at Ekstraklasa, and Krzysztof Szumowski, Operations Manager at Legia Warsaw, to learn more about Ekstraklasa’s restart and its new guideline which allows for a limited amount of fans to attend the matches (with a maximum stadium capacity of 25%).