Football fans will be locked out of grounds until the coronavirus infection rates start to fall dramatically – Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden has revealed.
And Dowden has called on BT Sport to make the Merseyside derby free to air this weekend to prevent households mixing in Liverpool which was locked down further this week.
The cabinet minister in charge of sport insisted he wants fans back as quickly as possible and understands the “frustration” of supporters – but it won't be this month and could take much longer.
But fans being allowed in to elite games is dependent on infection rates – which has been soaring in the last fortnight – starting to fall.