On the occasion of their first home match on the sixth day of competition, the clubs of Charleroi, Zulte-Waregem, Kortrijk and Ostend are offering a separate section in the stands, reserved for supporters who cannot present a Covid Safe Ticket. . This is what the Flemish daily Het Laatste Nieuws wrote on Wednesday. The next easing of health measures come into force on Friday and that means football stadiums will once again be able to fill up with spectators.
Provided, however, that supporters present a Covid Safe Ticket – ensuring that they are either fully vaccinated, have a negative PCR test or have been recovered from Covid-19. “The supporters also supported us during the difficult times”, explain the clubs in question. “It would not be fair not to allow them from now on if they have not yet had the chance to be fully immunized. And we don’t want to penalize them with an expensive test either.”
In these separate sections, supporters will be required to wear a mask when leaving their seat and observe the distancing rules. Zulte-Waregem is planning a separate section for those who have not yet received a second dose of a vaccine. “It is surely not about people anti-vaccines”, assures the spokesperson Jacques Sciandri. The club has reserved 450 places for non-vaccinated people, only for subscribers.
Bram Keirsebilck of KV Ostend admits that the situation will be “a bit Kafkaesque, Belgian style. But if a separate section is not planned, people who have not yet received two doses of the vaccine will have to be refused. ‘is not correct, if they have purchased a subscription and have the right to come and watch the game “.
But what about people who refuse the vaccine? According to Keirsebilck, they will also be seated in the separate section for the time being, but this is temporary. Eventually, it will disappear and everyone will therefore have to have a Covid passport.
