The Use of Soccer Stadiums During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

The new coronavirus pandemic has hit humanity hard. Regarding sport it could not be different, all modalities, including mega sporting events such as the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games were stopped. With soccer, FIFA and Member Associations postponed or canceled their activities, featuring a kind of sports lockdown. Directly affected in this process are the stadiums or arenas that have also stopped. However, in the midst of the pandemic, it realized that some of these facilities were requested to be part of the fight against COVID-19. Thus, the present study aims to examine how stadiums aimed at practicing soccer during the sports lockdown period were used. The study is delimited by the time period between March and the first half of July 2020. The results show public and private stadiums recruited to combat COVID-19 in the world used as: field hospitals, shelters or isolation centers, deposits of medical donations and diagnostic service points to expand public health care. Final considerations point to the versatility of the stadiums that have been converted to serve health and the population, reinforcing the understanding that fans will surely return only with the development of a vaccine or treatment against the virus.