Crucible ready to welcome the capacity crowd for the World Snooker Championship final Yorkshire News

Crowds of people will be allowed into the Crucible Theater in Sheffield tomorrow and Monday to witness the climax of 17 days of snooker, when the number of fans allowed has slowly increased. Around 10,000 billiard fans will have attended the tournament during its duration.

Against the backdrop of “ behind closed doors ” sport for the past 11 months, the return of supporters in Sheffield (the Crucible is part of the Government Events Research Program (ERP), the goal of which is the safe return of crowds) has been a welcome sight.

According to the government roadmap, if conditions are met, supporters will be allowed to return on May 17 (10,000 at large outdoor events, 1,000 indoors) before restrictions are further lifted on June 21. .

The Secretary of Culture, Oliver Dowden, was yesterday at the Crucible and in an exclusive interview with The Yorkshire Postexplained the important role the tournament has played.

“This is a really important part of the Event Research Program,” he said. “We have one goal in mind; How can we get as many people back as possible in the fourth stage, on June 21?

“We have to do it safely. What we are doing through the Event Research Program is analyzing different environments and what the risk factors are. In the Crucible, over the course of the fortnight, we have slowly increased the numbers. It started at 25 percent, today it is 75 percent and for the finals it will be 100 percent. Then we look at the spread risks, we test people before and after, we look at ventilation, crowd behavior, to see how we can do this safely.

“One of the tragedies of the confinements is that children are trapped at home, they cannot exercise, they cannot have that mental and physical stimulation.

“If you watch sports, you are more likely to participate in them, it inspires you.”

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