From Wednesday February 2, stadiums and sports halls will be able to fill up again. This was announced by Prime Minister Jean Castex on Thursday. At the start of the week, discussions between representatives of sports venues and the Ministry of Sports suggested proportional gauges (2,000 or 5,000, plus one seat out of two, i.e. a capacity between half and two-thirds of the total capacity) in a degraded situation and then full gauges, when the health situation allowed, the government made the choice to make sports fans wait an additional dozen days, before completely opening the doors of the enclosures to them.
On February 2, it will therefore be the end of the gauges in the ERP, the Establishments receiving the public (by then, the standard should be 2,000 spectators indoors, 5,000 outdoors). The two matches of the VI Nations tournament, scheduled at the Stade de France, on Sunday February 6 against Italy and Saturday February 12 against Ireland will therefore be able to fill up. 60,000 tickets had been sold for February 6, 80,000 for February 12.
Good news also for PSG fans, since the knockout stages of the Champions League against Real Madrid will be played with a full gauge. Small restriction however: until Wednesday February 16, it will not be possible to consume in the stadiums. “This lifting of the gauges is excellent news for the Stade de France and the French Rugby Federation, points out Loïc Duroselle, director of programming at the SDF. Like the whole profession, we had succeeded in setting up the health pass, this lifting of the gauges rewards our efforts. It also shows that the government trusts us in the implementation of the vaccination pass from now on. »
Vaccination pass in force on January 24
This will come into effect on Monday, January 24. The vaccine will be mandatory to enter an ERP. For spectators, volunteers but also all athletes. Last Sunday, Roxana Maracineanu, the Minister Delegate for Sports, had raised questions about the fate of foreign athletes, coming to France to participate in a sports competition. Like all athletes playing in France, they must be vaccinated to enter a sports arena. Exemptions will be possible for people who have contracted Covid-19, but the authorization period has been reduced to 4 months.
