Fans ecstatic as football resumes in Russia

The Russian Premiere League resumed this weekend after getting the green light from the country's football authorities following a steady drop in the number of new coronavirus cases over the past month.

On Saturday, CSKA Moscow squared off with Zenit St. Petersburg at the VEB Arena in the Russian capital.

Only around 2,000 fans were allowed in the stands for the match, based on restrictions set by the league in coordination with Russia's health authorities to allow a maximum of 10% of a stadium's total capacity. Another 1,000 or so people in the stadium were part of the security forces.

Local fans were ecstatic that football had finally returned to Russia since the hiatus.

"I've been waiting for this terribly for the past three months and today is the best day in all those months," one fan told the AP.

Others said they were unhappy about the restrictions on the number of fans in the stadium.

"The game will turn out ok, but they've really overdone it with the restrictions (to allow only 10% of fans in the stands). The atmosphere will be totally different," said a CSKA fan.

Loudspeakers reminded fans to keep a distance of 1.5 metres from each other and face masks and gloves were required to answer the stadium, with stewards handing them out to those that didn't have them.

Many fans, however, said they believed the threat of the coronavirus was exaggerated.

"I'm wary (of getting sick with the coronavirus), but I don't think it's as catastrophic as they make it out to be," said an elderly CSKA fan who said he had been supporting the club for over 60 years.

On Saturday, Russian health officials reported 7,889 new coronavirus cases - ending a week with the lowest number of new cases since late April. The country's caseload – currently at 576,952 – remains the third largest in the world.

Saturday's match ended in a runaway 4-0 victory for the visiting side, extending Zenit's lead at the top of the table.

Image credits: AP