Premier League football clubs and all stadia hosting sporting events are expected to enforce a UK government directive that demands fans to show their vaccine (Covid) passports in order to attend, starting from this weekend.
Boris Johnson hit the panic button today with claims that ‘Plan B’ could be triggered almost immediately amid growing fears about the Omicron strain including plans for a blanket order to work from home where possible, more mask-wearing and Covid passports.
Vaccine passports would mean the Premier League will be told it is mandatory to ensure all their 20 clubs will ask every supporter attending matches to show their vaccine certification.
Indeed, the new regulations will also affect every Football League club as well as Premiership Rugby and horse racing meets and every major sporting event in the foreseeable future this winter until the threat of Omicron is deemed to have diminished.
There are 10 Premier League matches planned for this weekend while West Ham and Tottenham have home European fixtures tonight, after which the new restrictions could have been introduced.
Top-flight clubs will discuss the new potential regulations at tomorrow’s Premier League shareholder meeting.
It will likely cause chaos for supporters entering grounds, where they have largely only been spot-checked for vaccine certification in the first four months of the season since stadiums reopened.
Clubs are also braced for a backlash from fans, who have been able to attend matches in large numbers without wearing masks or having their vaccine status checked during the season to date.
The Prime Minister bowed to mounting alarm about the risk of the NHS being overwhelmed by cases of the Omicron Covid variant by introducing tougher restrictions in the lead-up to Christmas.