South African Football Association (Safa) chief executive officer Tebogo Motlanthe says that the association will wait and see what happens with the Covid-19 vaccination roll out before making a decision on when supporters will be allowed to return to stadiums.
South Africa moved into level 1 of lockdown restriction last Sunday evening as the country looks to start getting back to normal with the roll out of the vaccine having already begun.
Despite the easing up of restrictions Motlanthe says that they will not be asking for permission from the government to allow fans into stadiums at this stage.
“You know what happened last time‚ we went to Level 1 and had to go back to adjusted Level 3 because most people were reckless‚” Motlanthe told Sowetan.
“This time let’s give the government a chance to observe what is happening with this Level 1 because experts are saying that we may end up having a third wave."
The official also explained that they will observe the coronavirus vaccination roll-out campaign which has seen many health workers being vaccinated across the country in recent weeks.
"As an Association‚ we can’t be reckless and start saying because it is Level 1 please bring supporters back," he added.
"We will wait and observe and see what happens with the vaccination campaign.”
Fans have not been able to attend football matches since the beginning of the outbreak in March last year, with the 2019/20 season was completed in a bio-bubble, while the current season has been ongoing behind closed doors.
Clubs will undoubtedly be desperate to get fans back into the stadium, but for the moment Safa looks to be playing the waiting game.
