In the Beijing time zone on January 4, reporter Xu Yi delivered the news that, despite the chants of the crowded fans, in order to cope with the serious challenge of epidemic prevention and control, the top executives of the Football Association (FA) have revealed that fans will not be admitted to the play-off matches.
On the 8th and 12th of this month, this season's Super League play-offs will be held in Suzhou. Zhejiang, the third-place team in the Central League, will face Qingdao, the 16th-place team in the Super League, while Chengdu Rongcheng, the third-place team in the Central League, will play Dalian Ren, the 15th-place team in the Super League. Kickoff for all matches is scheduled for 3:30pm.
In the face of the fans' ardent expectations, the relevant person in charge of the Football Association responded:
"We have heard the voices of the fans and have thought long and hard about the possibility of having the play-offs open to the fans. However, given the complexity of the epidemic prevention efforts, we have ultimately decided that the two-legged play-off matches will not be open to fans."
The person in charge further elaborated, "At present, the situation of epidemic prevention in the country is still serious, and the complexity of epidemic prevention is self-evident. If the stadium is opened at this moment, there will be certain risks. The current anti-epidemic principles of all governments emphasize the avoidance of crowd gathering, so the additional matches are not open also to protect the health and safety of fans. In addition, the Suzhou region will not authorize any more large-scale events before the year, which makes it difficult to make the opening of the play-offs to fans a viable option."
