It’s been about a month since the Premier League was suspended due to the coronavirus outbreak, and it’s safe to say that we’re all desperate for it to return.
But due to the devastating nature of the crisis at hand, it’s obviously imperative that Premier League matches should recommence only when it is absolutely safe to do so.
A situation where fans are able to attend Premier League games safely again still seems like a world away, but a new app devised recently might have the potential to make it happen.
The British tech firm VST Enterprises have just developed a ‘digital health passport’ app, which people can show on their phone to demonstrate that they are free from COVID-19.
When scanned, the health passport would reveal whether its owner has previously tested positive or negative for the virus, and whether or not they have antibodies against it.
The UK Government are already exploring how the app could be used to help determine when NHS staff can return to work, and the Premier League appear to be very interested in it too.
Premier League chief executive Richard Masters is set to meet with the app’s developers to explore whether it could be used to check the health of supporters who wish to attend games.
The idea is that fans could buy tickets for Premier League games again, providing that they can prove using the app that they have tested negative or have antibodies against the virus.
To ensure that precautions are taken against the virus, each supporter’s health passport would have to validated twice, initially before purchase of tickets and again before entering the stadium.
So, if the Premier League can find a way to make this whole process work logistically, it could help the league resume without needing to be completed behind closed doors.
This news will no doubt excite fans, who have all been starved for good news for ages now, but it’ll surely take a while for this app to be proved reliable enough to be rolled out in this way.
In light of that, football fans should definitely sit tight at home for now, but with a slight bit of new optimism.