Limited number of Man City and Tottenham fans to attend Carabao Cup final
By Ross Jackson
A limited number of fans will be permitted to attend the Carabao Cup final later this month between Tottenham and Manchester City.
The occasion is being used as a pilot event as the government looks to trial the return of fans to football stadiums before lockdown restrictions are fully lifted in June.
The Evening Standard report that anyone who wishes to attend the clash between Spurs and City will be required to provide a negative COVID-19 test before entering Wembley, while social distancing guidelines will remain in place once in the ground.
The exact number of tickets available for the final has yet to be revealed, but it is expected that between 4000-8000 tickets will be on sale as the government looks to test the impact of fans returning to football grounds prior to the number being increased to 10,000 in May.
One other key aspect that the announcement failed to address was whether fans of Manchester City will be allowed to travel from Manchester for the game.
Brent Council, the London authority covering Wembley, has confirmed that Leicester's FA Cup semi-final with Southampton a week prior to the Carabao Cup final will also see fans in attendance, but tickets will only be allocated to local residents including health workers, Brent council staff, teachers and pupils over the age of 18.
Those permitted to attend the Carabao Cup final will be chosen from the same group of people, along with a limited number of City and Spurs fans.
In a brief statement released by Brent Council, they explained their reasoning for said groups being chosen, writing: “These groups have been chosen as they are largely already in regular testing regimes."
Brent Council has already written to residents asking them if they have any interest in attending the matches, and anyone lucky enough to be selected to attend either game will be given two match tickets.
Despite the announcement regarding Leicester's FA Cup clash with Southampton, fans will not be allowed to attend the other semi-final between Chelsea and Manchester City.