Sport will ‘wither on the vine’ if fans can’t attend long-term, Seb Coe warns

"I don’t think anybody is contemplating this as the ideal long-term solution."
PA

Athletics chief Seb Coe has warned that sport would “wither on the vine quite quickly” if the coronavirus pandemic forced events to be held without fans for a long period.

This week has seen the resumption of some sporting fixtures across Europe, with horse racing in France and the German Bundesliga among those to restart their seasons behind-closed-doors.

Plans are being made for major sports such as football and cricket to be played in the UK later this summer, with the Premier League aiming for a June restart while Test series against Pakistan and the West Indies could take place in July and August.

Athletics has already seen the Olympic Games postponed and its European Championships cancelled. A revised Diamond League schedule was unveiled last week, including a meeting in Gateshead, but the likelihood is that fans will be unable to attend.

"We can’t be oblivious or tin-eared to what we are being told by local communities and public health authorities. It may well mean that,” Coe confirmed in an interview with insidethegames.biz.

"I don’t think anybody is contemplating this as the ideal long-term solution - sport would wither on the vine quite quickly if that were the case.

"But that may well be a compromise we have to make in order to get the athletes back into competition, leagues finished, at least some kind of competition."

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