Omikron keeps fans away from sports competitions until the end of January

The Belgian Advisory Committee decided today. As of Sunday morning, the public is no longer welcome at sports competitions, indoors or outdoors. This also affects cyclocross. Dendermonde is the first of many victims, but the strictest measures are in place until January 28.

There is no closure, as in the Netherlands. But stricter measures are also important in Belgium, where cinemas, theaters and concert halls are closed, and indoor activities are no longer allowed, except for museums and sports activities. However, the public is no longer allowed to participate in these sporting activities.

Christmas markets are still allowed, commodity condition crowd control, but not the audience at outdoor sports matches. All measures will come into effect from Sunday morning, which concretely for cyclocross means that fans cannot attend cyclocross for the next six weeks.

preventive
However, the booster vaccination in Belgium is going well. Four out of ten adults have already received that third shot. Infection numbers are also declining, but on the other hand, the percentage of infection with the omikron variant is rising. So precautionary measures were taken.

There is already a great deal of misunderstanding in cyclocross. “We’ve seen this coming,” says Christophe Imbenz of Golazo. “These are nothing but fun times. Will the matches go on? I suppose it is, but the mayors must first be consulted. And we have to look at budgets. But it is a fact that when there is a race, all parties will have to compromise: the organizers, the riders, the union.”

“Football Fault”
Coin Mono, organizer of Heusden-Zolder, points out sporza Blame football. “The pictures in the football stadiums weren’t good,” he says. “The behavior of football fans did nothing to convince the advisory committee that there are sports that can be regulated. I think we are the victims of that.”

Mono also sits with Zolder’s mayor and district manager. But he says he does not want to go ahead with the cancellation. “Everything is ready, all contracts have been signed.”