Football Finance expert Kieran Maguire has said that all clubs, including Tottenham Hotspur, are worried about the impact of the vaccine passports that are set to be introduced by the UK government.
The Daily Mail revealed this week that the government aims to bring in measures to try and help stem the rate at which the Omicron variant of COVID-19 is spreading through the UK.
This reportedly includes asking all spectators to show proof of vaccination or a negative test to enter venues with a capacity of 10,000 or more from next week.
It was explained that it takes between two and 35 seconds to scan NHS COVID passes and so there could be substantial delays at venues like the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium if every single fan entering the venue is asked to present their passes.
Maguire believes that such measures are likely to result in a lot of empty seats, which would in turn have financial consequences for the clubs.
When asked about the government’s move, he told Football Insider: “All clubs are concerned about it.
“It just depends how draconian the rules introduced by the government are. It looks as if the checking will be on a spot basis and if that is the case it will not be too much of an issue.”
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“If it is to be 100 per cent of fans, first of all, some of the fans will not turn up on principle. Some others will be put off by the fact that they have to get there an extra hour early because of ridiculous queues.
“I think there will be financial consequence because it would lead to empty seats. Empty seats don’t buy the merchandise, drinks and pies.”
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One would hope that the government would decide to implement random spot checks rather than scanning each spectator’s individual Covid passes if it is the case that it could lead to delays of an hour or more before entering the stadium.
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