Qatar World Cup venue to open with COVID-recovered fans

GBNEWS24 DESK//

Qatar will inaugurate its latest completed World Cup stadium with a domestic fixture at which half of tickets will be reserved for fans who have recovered from coronavirus, the country’s FA said Monday.

The Al-Rayyan Venue, the third new stadium to be completed ahead of 2022, will host the domestic Emir Cup final on December 18 and will welcome around half of its 40,000 capacity.

“Anyone who enters the stadium must return either a negative Covid-19 test or a positive Covid-19 antibodies test,” Abdul Wahab al-Musleh, Qatar’s deputy chief medical officer, said in a QFA statement.

“About 50 percent of the available seats will be allocated to people who have previously contracted the virus.”

Fans will be required to undergo tests at one of three locations where their ticket application will be linked to their national identity cards and phone number.

Fans will then be eligible for a non-transferable ticket once they receive the required test result.

Once inside, fans will be required to wear a mask, show their contact tracing app, and stay in their allocated seat.

“This is the first time Qatar has hosted a match on this scale under such exceptional circumstances,” added Musleh.

Qatar has slowly been welcoming fans back to stadiums, permitting attendances of up to 30 percent in the top-flight Qatar Stars League.

The human body produces antibodies when it fights off viruses such as SARS-CoV-2. They are proteins that are programmed to target specific pathogens.