Stadiums

Professional soccer returned to Japan on Saturday after more than a three-month layoff. While the first round of matches was played in empty arenas, fans of Japanese soccer will now be able to attend games in person.

Beginning Friday, July 10, capacity at matches will be limited to 5,000 fans, or 50 percent capacity in stadiums that hold less than 10,000 spectators. The announcement was made following a joint coronavirus task force meeting Monday that included health officials and leaders from Japanese sports leagues. 

Ever since the novel coronavirus pandemic shut down all sports in the U.S., supporters have been wondering: When will fans be allowed at sporting events? We just got the definitive answer for the first match to allow fans back in a stadium to watch a live event this week.

The Real Monarchs of the USL Championship announced Thursday they will host Landon Donovan’s San Diego Loyal SC on July 11 — with Rio Tinto Stadium open for up to 5,300 fans. It will mark the first U.S. sporting event with fans since the Denver Nuggets played the Dallas Mavericks in the NBA on March 11.

Álvaro Cervera arrived in Cádiz after a three-year spell with Tenerife. It was mid-April when he took the job as manager, the season nearly over. Cervera was able to guide Cádiz CF to a fourth-place finish and promotion to the Spanish second division after six arduous years in the third tier. Four years on, El Submarino Amarillo is on the brink of a return to the promised land of LaLiga.

The Rio de Janeiro state championship restarted once again on Sunday as Botafogo — one of the clubs opposed to what they see as a premature resumption of top-level football —— took the field with a banner protesting the decision.

The move to get back underway in Rio has focused attention on the wider confusion surrounding football's stop-start status in the South American nation. Although many clubs are back in training, only Rio has restarted its state league as the daily number of dead and infected due to the new coronavirus remains high.

Leeds United has removed a cardboard cutout of former al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden from the stands at Elland Road after it was spotted in a photo posted on Twitter, British media have reported.

With no spectators allowed into stadiums as part of efforts to curb the spread of COVID-19, many English clubs are giving fans the chance to send in photos and have cutouts put on the seats instead.

Osama Bin Ladin had many crimes, but one of the much lesser ones was that he actually supported Arsenal.

A plane carrying a banner declaring “White Lives Matter Burnley” flew over Manchester City's Etihad Stadium on Monday at the start of the Premier League game against Burnley.

The plane appeared shortly after players from both teams took a knee in support of the Black Lives Matter movement. There was no indication who had organized the plane and banner.