Danish football fans used video conferencing platform Zoom to get behind their teams and feel part of the action as the sport returned from its coronavirus shutdown on Thursday.
With games held behind closed doors, thousands of fans dialled in to have their faces beamed live onto giant screens at the Ceres Park Stadium as AGF Aarhus hosted Randers in the first Danish Superliga game since mid-March.
Labelled the world’s first "virtual grandstand", the wall of screens showed fans’ live reactions to the game – which ended in a 1-1 draw – while crowd noise was also pumped in through speakers.
The return to sporting action without fans has seen a range of novel approaches employed by clubs around the world.
German Bundesliga side Borussia Monchengladbach filled much of their home stadium with cardboard cutouts of fans, who had each paid €19 towards the charity initiative to have their faces printed.
Danish league leaders FC Midtjylland are due to play their first game on Saturday and have planned a drive-in movie-theatre style experience for fans, held in the 2,000-capacity car park outside their stadium.
