The Indonesian government is considering allowing people who have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 to physically attend League 2 soccer matches, Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs, Airlangga Hartarto, has said.

“I spoke with the Minister for Sports and Youth and the Indonesian Football Association (PSSI) as well about the possibility to have a small number of spectators in the stadium, but for right now, the matches still have no spectators,” Hartarto, who is also the chairman of the Committee for COVID-19 Handling and COVID-19 Handling and the National Economic Recovery Committee (KPC-PEN), informed at an online press conference on Tuesday.

While making its decision on the League 2 matches, the government will also evaluate the implementation of the National Games (PON) in Papua and the Superbike Championship at the Mandalika Circuit, Lombok, for which, the number of spectators has been capped at 20-25 percent of a stadium’s capacity, he said.

The government will also require residents living around the stadiums used for League 2 matches to have received at least the first dose of vaccination, while spectators inside the stadiums will need to be fully vaccinated, he added. “The spectators are required to receive a full dose of vaccination. We also try to maintain the residents’ wellbeing who live near the stadium,” Hartarto remarked.

Responding to Hartarto, Minister of Sports and Youth, Zainuddin Amali, said his ministry will look at future developments and discuss the entry of spectators again.

This is a challenge for us and PSSI. We will see the future condition, including the daily cases of COVID-19. We will discuss this with the Coordinating Minister; of course, we will report the results of the discussion,” Amali added.

The 2021 League 2 officially opened, without spectators, with a duel between Persis Solo and PSG Pati at the Manahan Stadium, Solo on September 26, 2021. The opening match was attended by Minister Amali, Minister of State-Owned Enterprises, Erick Thohir, and PSSI chairman Mochamad Irawan.

Source: Antara News