MOVEMENT restrictions were further relaxed today, with spectators now allowed inside stadiums for tournaments, beginning with the Malaysian League on April 1, Senior Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob said.

The Health Ministry has done a risk assessment and advised the National Security Council (NSC) that fans can be allowed to enter stadiums, provided certain conditions are met.

“For areas under the conditional MCO (CMCO), we allow 10% or around 2,000 fans into a stadium under strict supervision.

“For areas under the recovery MCO (RMCO), 25% or about 8,000 fans are allowed to enter a stadium with full supervision,” the defence minister said in a press conference.

The Youth and Sports Ministry (KBS) must also approve the attendance of fans in a stadium for a given tournament, he added.

The curb on spectators at sporting events will be lifted effective April 1, beginning with two football matches in the Malaysian League.

The matches are to be used as a proof of concept (POC) to evaluate the effectiveness of the Audience Management Protocol, Ismail Sabri said.

“The Health Ministry, the KBS, and the NSC will be involved in monitoring the event. This will include compliance as well as crowd flow and dispersal of fans.

“Tickets will be sold online and there will be a minimum social distancing of 1.5m to 2m between each spectator,” he said. – March 18, 2021.