Frank Lampard has urged the government to exempt football from the coronavirus tier system in order to allow fans to keep attending matches.
London will enter tier 3 at one minute past midnight on Wednesday, meaning the likes of Chelsea, Arsenal, Fulham, Tottenham, West Ham and Crystal Palace will no longer be permitted to welcome 2,000 supporters to their stadiums for the foreseeable future.
However, Lampard claimed that clubs have already demonstrated their ability to safely host a limited number of fans. The Chelsea manager also pointed to the fact that only four Premier League clubs - Brighton, Everton, Liverpool and Southampton - are now able to host supporters, and questioned whether it will create an unfair playing field.
READ MORE: Arsenal confirm no fans for Southampton game
“I did say at the start that I didn’t want the advantage [of having 2,000 fans when others have none],” he said. “I was delighted for fans to come back in the tier system. I’m not that experienced in it, but who is? For me it seems to contradict itself at certain times and if you can do something that’s safe and well-prepared, which I think football clubs – certainly at the Premier League level – can do, then I think we should try to keep the world moving as much as we can.
“I will certainly back that and hope others maybe do. If it’s possible, it will always come down to the government. I’m not going to try to override them as well because maybe they know a lot more detail than I do on the specifics. But just for the sake of football it’s such a shame we go one step forward, having fans back at the low level, and then we have to take a step back again.”
“Even though we’ve been in tier 2 and had fans in for a couple of games, I did feel it should have been a level playing field if some clubs can have them and some can’t. We’ve seen already and felt it, the backing they give you and what it does to the game. I also think we can control 2,000 fans coming into a stadium if they are coming from within a [different] tier or whatever, to keep things moving along."
Arsenal said they were "disappointed" they would not be able to welcome fans to the Emirates Stadium for their clash with Southampton on Wednesday.
