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Danish premier league final to be played in front of full crowd

The final of the Danish league season will be played out in front of supporters, including up to 10,500 at FC Copenhagen, the government announced on Tuesday.

Published: 2 July 2020 09:38 CEST
Danish premier league final to be played in front of full crowd
Player from Brøndby IF and FC København meet ahead of a match on June 21st. Photo: Lars Møller/Ritzau Scanpix
There had been a limit of 500 people allowed to attend sporting events in Denmark following the coronavirus pandemic, but after three successful test matches with 3,000 spectators, the maximum attendance has been raised.
   
“That experience has shown that it's possible to hold matches with many spectators, so that will be a possibility during the summer,” Justice Minister Nick Haekkerup said in a statement.
   
“The crisis is not over, but we are now taking another step towards the reopening of Denmark.”
   
Up to 500 fans will be allowed in each section of football grounds, with social distancing of at least one metre, meaning the new capacities will be different for each stadium.
   
A spokesperson for FC Copenhagen told AFP that up to 10,500 fans will be allowed into their 38,000-capacity Parken Stadium, which is scheduled to host Euro 2020 matches next year.
 
   
The Danish top flight, which restarted on May 28, is due to finish its 2019/20 season on July 29.

FOOTBALL

Danish football fans’ crowded celebrations led to ‘only limited spread’

The wild, out-of-contol celebrations that followed Brøndby IF's victory in the Danish Superliga final have ten days later resulted in just 92 new coronavirus infections, leading some to suggest that big concerts and festivals could be held safely.

Published: 2 June 2021 14:08 CEST
Danish football fans' crowded celebrations led to 'only limited spread'
A Brøndby fan celebrates the team's victory in the Superliga final. Photo: Martin Sylvest/Ritzau Scanpix

The Danish Patient Safety Authority tweeted on Monday that the celebrations, which brought thousands of jubilant fans out on to the streets near Copenhagen, with wild hugging and little if any social distancing, had not been a superspreader event, with just 85 of those who attended the event so far testing positive. 

“Fortunately this points to only limited spread of infection,” it wrote.

Since then, seven new infections linked to the celebrations have been detected, but this has not stopped the Danish Chamber of Commerce from using the event to push for greater opening.

“We believe that the figures give us a good reason to look at both the restrictions and quickly make more trials in Denmark, so that we can become smarter about how the infection spreads at, for instance, larger concerts,” Lars Ramme Nielsen, an economist at the chamber covering the tourism and events sectors, told the BT tabloid. “We must be careful, but we must not be overcautious.”

Hans Jørn Kolmos, professor of clinical microbiology at the University of Southern Denmark, told the newspaper that the low level of infections was “gratifying”.

“It confirms that it takes a lot to infect people when you are outside,” he said.

He said that it should be possible to tour the Grøn Koncert, a moving concert that plays annually in several Danish cities, if all of those attending had valid coronavirus passes.

“The Grøn Koncert, with coronapasses, could probably work well. I wouldn’t be terribly worried about that,” he said.

But Christian Wejse, Associate professor at Aarhus University, questioned whether 92 infected counted as “limited spread”.

“This is exactly what I would call a significant spread of infection,” he said. “If we look at the individual events in we have had in Denmark that have led to a large number of infected people, then this will come a good way up on that list.”

“It is a question of definition, but I’m not sure I agree that this is not a superspreader event.”

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