It has been announced that this years Carabao Cup Final will be played in front of just 8,000 spectators, and no under-18’s or supporters who fall into the CEV classification will be allowed to attend the game between Spurs and Manchester City at Wembley.
The news is a huge low blow to supporters who have found the pandemic incredibly hard and were hoping that should they be invited, they can experience being in a football stadium again.
Why no Under-18s? Makes no sense. They were the first group to have restrictions eased because of reduced risk… now in this environment risk assessment results in No Under 18s 🤦‍♂️
— Dean Cook (@DeanCook008) April 13, 2021
Ah so the people who are lowest risk from Covid aren’t allowed to attend 🤷‍♂️
— chris kay (@whereskay) April 13, 2021
It’s a horrible decision, one that excludes specific groups of people who may have suffered just as much as the next person during lockdown, and SpursAbility – the official Tottenham Hotspur Disabled Supporters group have expressed their frustration and discontent and the decision.
“A number of our members and supporters will fall into this (CEV) classification under recent Covid-19 guidance and have also endured long shielding periods,” SpursAbility said.
“However, most of them will have had their first and second vaccinations and are at considerably lower risk than those who are yet to be vaccinated.
“Government guidance places those aged 70 or over at an equal or higher risk category yet there is no exclusion issue for anyone in these higher-risk groups. The policy adopted for this match is a direct discrimination toward many disabled supporters.
“Some of our supporters have been shielding for over 12 months and have seen this match as an opportunity to return to some form of normal lifestyle. The match is allowing only 8,000 spectators in an outdoor stadium with a capacity of 90,000 – less than 9% of its potential. Yet there is a choice to exclude a small group of supporters who would need to disclose their classification on a voluntary basis.
Children and CEV adults are banned from attending this years @Carabao_Cup final. This is wrong and football needs to oppose such proposals, not be complicit in their introduction. @EFL @EFL_Comms @OliverDowden https://t.co/ILUlQCfFYR
— Phil Sloggett (@PhilSloggett) April 13, 2021
“At the moment a CEV person who has had the coronavirus and recovered and has subsequently received two vaccine doses is a considerably lesser risk compared with a 40-year-old who may well have unknown health issues. Is this fair and reasonable?
“We ask that this criteria in the government-led research programme for reopening live events to the general public be reviewed. Returning to live matches again is the lifeline needed by many disabled supporters to maintain their mental health after long periods of forced isolation, yet they are being precluded on outdated advice and a broad-brush approach open to abuse in so many ways.”
The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport has been approached for a response by many different publications, supporters and supporters groups as this ludicrous decision currently remains to stand with such little time before the final.