Petition to allow for return of football in Wales to be discussed in Senedd
A petition to allow supporters to return to football as well as a resumption of recreational football is to be discussed in the Senedd.
This is Welsh Football founder Callum Howen, launched the petition in August and gathered 2045 signatures.
Despite not meeting the required 5000 for a compulsory discussion, talks will take place inside the Welsh Parliament on Tuesday, 13 October at 09:00.
“I received an email from the petitions committee a few days ago regarding my petition about the football situation in Wales,” revealed Howen on social media.
“I’m delighted to announce that the petition will be discussed in the Send, despite not reaching 5000 signatures.
“When asked for my comments, I went into further detail about how the Welsh Government’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic is destroying football clubs and damaging people both physically and mentally.”
Clubs in Wales are now below the top flight allowed to play intra-squad friendlies with a number taking place yesterday.
Next week clubs will be able to stage friendly fixtures, however a maximum of 11 players and only one substitute will be allowed.
Clubs below the Cymru Premier have to abide to the maximum of 30 person gathering.
However, earlier in the week, Mark Drakeford allowed children to travel outside of their respective areas for organised sport.
For senior football, local restrictions still apply with many players unable to represent their club if they are based in the local authority area.
This week has seen the #LetFansIn movement take prominence amongst the Welsh football community.
Plaid Cymru MP Liz Saville-Roberts and Plaid Cymru MS Rhun ap Iorwerth both recently spoke about supporting Welsh clubs.
Saville-Roberts spoke about welcoming supporters back to Cymru Premier matches meanwhile ap Iorwerth spoke of his desire to see the Welsh Government support the FAW with funding to safeguard the future of Welsh clubs.
Football across the border in England is being played at all levels.
Only clubs in the Vanarama National Leagues to the Premier League are affected with games being played behind-closed-doors.
Clubs below England’s sixth tier are permitted to welcome spectators and have been staging competitive fixtures for almost a month now.
In Scotland, the three tiers below the Scottish Premiership have a start date of October 17 and will also play without supporters.
(Featured Image: Nikitas Mesney/Connah’s Quay Nomads)
