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FOOTBALL

Social distancing in the stands: crowd returns to Danish football

Danish football teams Brondby and Copenhagen on Sunday played the first league match with crowds in the stands since March. AFP spoke to some of the fans.

Social distancing in the stands: crowd returns to Danish football
Thibault Savary/AFP
For 41-year-old Chris, it was “the best experience of my life”.
   
Marriage, fatherhood, highly-paid new job? No. He was referring to the opportunity to finally attend a Danish league football game along with 3,000 others for the Brondby v Copenhagen clash on Sunday.
   
“After three months without a stadium, this return is the best experience of my life,” Chris told AFP after the 1-1 draw.
   
In Denmark, crowds have been limited to 500 since the lockdown but Sunday's game was allowed special dispensation to host 3,000 under strict coronavirus health protocols.
   
Now the authorities will assess the advisability of increasing the number of people present in the stands on a more regular basis.   
 
Inside the stadium on Sunday, supporters were asked to stay two metres apart in a stadium usually full to its 28,000 capacity. Despite that, fans were looking on the bright side.
   
“It felt like there were 30,000 here today,” said Emil, 22. “I missed the stadium so much, and so did everyone. It's really great to be back.”
 
   
The Danish league had resumed on May 28 behind closed doors.   
 
Football in Europe is very slowly returning to normal even if the major leagues of England, Spain, Italy and Germany have also resumed without fans.   
 
However, earlier this month, 16,000 spectators watched a Serbian Cup semi-final.

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RACISM

VIDEO: Spain’s La Liga reviews video of boy racially abusing Vinicius

Spain's La Liga on Monday said it was reviewing a video of a child making racist insults towards Real Madrid forward Vinicius Junior during the 2-2 draw with Valencia at the weekend.

VIDEO: Spain's La Liga reviews video of boy racially abusing Vinicius

“We’re in the process of studying and analysing the facts from a legal standpoint to see what we can and should do,” La Liga sources said.

In a video published by a journalist for ESPN Brasil, and picked up by Spanish media, a boy sitting in a woman’s lap can be heard calling Vinicius a “monkey”.

The Brazilian scored twice for Madrid as his team recovered from two goals down at Mestalla on Saturday.

Vinicius raised his fist in a “Black Power” salute after the first of his two goals at a ground where he was racially abused last season. Valencia subsequently banned three people from the stadium for life.

The 23-year-old has become a symbol of the fight against discrimination in Spanish football after suffering racist abuse on many occasions, and he was jeered repeatedly by home supporters on Saturday.

Jude Bellingham was sent off after the final whistle against Valencia for protesting after the referee blew the final whistle right before the England midfielder headed home what he thought was the winning goal.

READ ALSO: Football star Vinicius highlights racist behaviour from Spanish fans

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