Tuesday, April 28, 2009

More zero attendances

Guadalajara and Tecos will play their home games on the weekend without any supporters in the stands. Jalisco state government officials and the respective Mexican clubs have taken the next step in preventing the spread of the swine flu by shutting down these Primera Division games.

The count is now up to five, with regards to how many games will be played sans fans: Toluca, Pachuca, Cruz Azul, Chivas and Tecos.

That leaves Morelia, Monterrey, Necaxa and Santos as the clubs who might open their doors to the public. Necaxa though have reported three cases of the swine flu among their own players - two youth team players as well as first-teamer Alejandro Castillo. Aguascalientes have also reported two deaths and 30 probable cases, according to Reforma, so Necaxa might shut their doors.

Nuevo Leon has reported one death and 10 cases while Coahuila (20) and Michoacan (13) have no deaths but reported cases, also according to Reforma. While the numbers appear small, health and government officials would likely argue that figure could balloon with such public gatherings as a soccer match.

We'll see what happens when the federation weighs in on the matter. On Wednesday the federation is supposed to decide on the fate of these games (they'll be played, but whether fans will be allowed remains to be seen) but it is likely that most if not all of the Jornada 16 matches will be played minus a major component - supporters.

ADD: The FMF has decided to play all nine of their league games behind closed doors.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

They made the correct decision, IMO.

Anonymous said...

fmf venues start looking more like mls venues... count the fans, actually "count" the fans