GUAYAQUIL — The Emergency Operations Committee (COE) of Ecuador decided to prohibit the public from entering the match between the national team and Brazil, next Thursday, in Quito, for the Qatar 2022 World Cup qualifiers, due to the high levels of covid-19 infections.
“The National COE, in a permanent session this Monday, by a majority of the full members present, resolved that the match between Ecuador and Brazil be played without an audience, in order to protect the health and well-being of the population,” said the Committee. Emergency through a statement.
And he added that the provision arose “from the analysis carried out, according to the available technical information and the current epidemiological situation”, to avoid “a possible rebound in the cases of Covid-19 due to said event and in view of the high transmissibility of the omicron variant.
This measure contrasted with the aspirations of the Ecuadorian Football Federation (FEF), which had requested the endorsement for the entry of up to 60 percent of the total capacity of the Rodrigo Paz stadium, of the Quito League, venue for the qualifying match.
During the meeting last November between Ecuador and Venezuela, the National COE authorized the FEF the entry of 60 percent of the public, thanks to the drop in infection levels.
For this reason, the governing body of Ecuadorian soccer sold the tickets for the seats of the match against Brazil last December, with approximately 50 percent of the capacity of the stadium -for 42,000 fans-, which have already been sold out.
Faced with the possibility of a ban, as has happened today, the directors of the FEF announced that they would return the money received to the fans, although at the moment there has been no official statement from the FEF.
