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A soccer game played Tuesday by one of Poland's most popular clubs provides an honest picture for sports fans, showing what 25 percent capacity for a massive stadium really looks like.
Wisla Krakow, one of Poland's most popular soccer clubs, played against Wisla Plock in a match Tuesday night at the Henryk Reyman Stadium in Krakow, Poland.
The stadium, which can hold more than 33,000 people, is limited to only 25 percent of its capacity for in-person game attendance, according to the government's coronavirus information page.
Mateusz Miga, a Polish sports journalist, posted a video of the near-empty stadium to his Twitter account during Tuesday night's game. People scattered throughout the stands can be seen on their feet, cheering.
Jak widać nie trzeba wielu gardeł by atmosfera zrobila sie mocno meczowa. @WislaKrakowSA pic.twitter.com/mALgTsIp4C
— Mateusz Miga (@MateuszMiga) June 23, 2020
Newsweek was unable to immediately reach representatives from the stadium for further comment.
The country allowed a limited number of soccer fans to attend games in-person beginning June 19, but they must follow special sanitary regulations imposed by Poland's health ministry, as well as follow the mandatory face covering rule.
Games in Poland's Ekstraklasa league had resumed May 29 to empty stadiums. The league suspended games beginning on March 13 due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Poland is currently facing 13,579 reported cases, according to the most recent data.
Other countries are taking more cautious approaches when it comes to bringing back live sporting events amidst the pandemic.
In Spain, which was badly hit by the virus, its premier soccer league La Liga returned to empty stadiums June 11. But in its first match between Seville clubs Real Betis and Sevilla FC, the league used broadcasting techniques and sound effects to give fans viewing at home a live effect.
La Liga collaborated with EA Sports to broadcast reactive crowd noise, and with Vizrt, a Norwegian technology company, to provide visuals that gave the impression of a live audience, The Verge reported.
"We are thinking of this as a televised entertainment spectacle," Melcior Soler, audiovisual director for La Liga, told The Athletic. "What we are going to do is make you recall what you are used to seeing when the stadiums are full."
The NBA announced in early June its plans to use facilities at Florida's Walt Disney World to restart its current season, which was suspended March 11.
The league's board of governors approved a 22-team format on June 4 in which all NBA players and personnel would stay, practice and play at Disney's large campus, and that the season would likely last until October, The Associated Press reported.
However, fans will not be allowed to attend games per the league's rules.
