Watching a live game of football during the COVID 19 pandemic

On the 16th of August my two sons Jacob and Jack and I attended a home game between Gyeongnam FC and Chungnam Asan in the Korean Professional football league.  The number of COVID 19 cases was in double digits so the league was allowing 30 percent of the stadiums' capacity to be allocated by supporters.

Firstly, you couldn't buy tickets on the day, you had to purchase the tickets online through a specific website.  Once you had bought the tickets, the website will send you a link to be scanned by Gyeongnam ticket officers on the day of the game.  The tickets we selected had to be spread out evenly, with each person sitting three seats apart from one another, due to social distancing measures.  My sons and I decided on sitting in a triangle shape. 

To the day itself of the game.  There were strict measures of just getting to the stadium in passing certain government protocols.  First of all, there was a temperature check (you had to be below 37.5) then you had to fill in all your details.  Your name, address, phone number.  Then I had to download a QR code on my phone and the security officer would scan it.  Once all passed we could enter the stadium.  I must add, wearing a mask was mandatory and if you even had your mask off for a short while, you were told by a security officer to put it over your nose and mouth.

There was no singing allowed in the stadium to prevent saliva from being extracted from your mouth onto other people.  However, the supporters group had a big speaker that pumped out crowd noises.  The supporters' would just move their bodies to the motion of them singing the songs.  It was a first for me to see this and very strange at first.  I got used to it though by the final whistle.  Gyeongnam won the game 2-0, so it was a great evening for every fan that got to attend the game.  

Overall it was a strange but pleasant experience.  It was weird to hear at times all the players talking to each other on the football pitch.  Making a good atmosphere at football can be the extra man for the home team.  Without this, it disadvantages every home team all over the world.  Once this pandemic has subsided we can all look forward to everyone attending football matches again cheering on their respective teams.


Key expressions and words


attended- To go somewhere and watch something.

double digits- Any number between 10 and 99.

capacity- How much something can hold.

purchase- To buy something with cash or other means.

strict measures- To be very strong on an issue.

protocols- Rules that the general public must follow through government advice.

mandatory- Something you must do.  If not you'll be refused from doing what you want to do.

saliva- The watery liquid we produce from our mouth if we are thirsty or we taste something we don't like.

extracted- To come out of something with significant force.

pumped out- To produce noise from a speaker at loud volume.



Put the words or expressions into the blanks correctly


I joined a new gym, but the _________________________ set by the manager makes me think I won't like it here.


There must be some kind of protest going on today.  The music is being ___________________ so loud I can hardly hear myself think.


The didn't want to use the public rest room in the park.  It was so dirty.  It had ____________________ everywhere.


It is _______________________ to wear masks when attending school in South Korea these days.


I heard West Ham want to increase their ____________________ to 65,000 fans. 


So how many countries have you been to James?  Oh, let me think!!!  I am not too sure, but it's definitely in ____________________.