Prime Minister Boris Johnson told MPs on Wednesday that he hopes to get fans back into sporting venues “as soon as possible” after reports emerged on Tuesday that the government was exploring having spectators return to venues by Christmas in areas with the lowest COVID-19 infection rates.
With the exception of trial events at Doncaster and Warwick in September-with the former having been cut short due to rising infection rates in the area-racing has been staged behind closed doors since its resumption on June 1. Goodwood and Newmarket had also been set to stage pilot events for the return of crowds in August and September, but those events were subsequently cancelled.
A BHA spokesperson said on Wednesday, “We remain in ongoing liaison with [the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport] regarding the return of spectators to sporting events, both through direct routes and racing’s seat on the ‘major sports’ group which supports the work of the Sports Technology and Innovation Group. We are currently awaiting further clarity from DCMS on the situation, though we are of course aware that this will be a cross-Governmental decision.”
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