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Daily Record
Daily Record
Sport
Gabriel McKay

Juventus and Bayern Munich fans join closed door revolt as hundreds sign up to campaign

Hundreds of fan groups across Europe have united to insist that football should not resume until crowds can return to stadiums.

The coronavirus pandemic has seen leagues grind to a halt, but the Bundesliga is planning to restart this weekend.

Serie A is set to resume on June 13, while the English Premier League are still exploring options to play the remaining games over the summer.

With social distancing measures to remain in place though, games will be played without fans for the foreseeable future.

That could have a devastating financial impact on Scottish clubs, who derive around 42 per cent of their income, on average, from gate receipts.

And the move hasn't gone down well on the continent either, where 'ultra' culture is a huge part of the football experience.

Now hundreds of supporters groups have come together to call for football to be stopped until fans can return.

Titled 'No Football Without Fans', a statement calls for the game to be suspended indefinitely.

It declares: "We consider the absolute stop to European football more than reasonable.

"Instead those who manage it have expressed only one goal: to start again. We firmly believe that only economic interests are at play.

"This is confirmed by the fact that the leagues should start again behind closed doors, without the beating heart of this popular sport: the fans.

"We ask the competent bodies to keep football competitions halted, until the crowding of the stadiums returns to being a habit free of risk to the collective health."

More than 150 Italian ultra groups have signed up to the campaign, including groups from Juventus, Napoli, Atalanta and Genoa.

Four Bayern Munich fan groups have joined, as have groups from Sevilla, Real Madrid and Marseille.

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