Silverstone joins major UK sporting bodies and venues in writing to Government to back vaccine passports review

Silverstone has joined other UK sporting bodies and organisations in writing to Boris Johnson to give its backing to a review of Covid certificates as an option for helping major events such as the British GP run with capacity crowds this summer.

As Silverstone boss Stuart Pringle revealed to Sky Sports in February, the motorsport venue has been in discussion with other sports bodies and the Government about exploring options for capacity attendances at major events later this year and is supportive of the ‘vaccine passport’ concept.

Silverstone is one of 10 signatories of a letter from leading sporting organisations to the Government requesting “certainty as soon as possible” on when fans can return to stadiums at full capacity.

  • Sporting bodies’ letter in full
  • The 2021 Formula 1 race calendar

“Looking ahead to June 21, we support the Government’s ambition to secure the full return of fans, without restrictions if possible. Of necessity, this will depend upon the Government agreeing that it is safe to lessen or drop social distancing requirements,” the letter stated.

“How this can be achieved is being examined by the Events Research Programme (ERP) which is looking at a range of options, including the extent to which social distancing can be relaxed. This work is supported by all of the major sporting bodies.

While we hope there will be no restrictions on attendance at our events this summer we have, along with other major sporting venues, informed the government that we are in support of a review of COVID certification.

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We want to reassure fans that this is part of our contingency planning and we remain committed to running events this summer with as many spectators and as few restrictions as possible.

“All of our sports are committed to working closely with the ERP to explore all of the options that will allow us to swiftly return to full capacities. We also understand that further guidance will be issued by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport and the Sports Grounds Safety Authority.

“It is important that we have certainty as soon as possible on the form this guidance will take so we can plan efficiently and effectively with many big sporting events scheduled for late June and onwards.

“The return of fans will give a huge boost to millions who enjoy a day out at a sporting event with their friends and families and be of great benefit to the economy. It is right that every possible action is considered to secure this outcome as soon as possible, but only for as long as an unrestricted return is considered unsafe to fans, matchday staff and the wider public.

“This includes investigating how a Covid certification arrangement could reduce and then safely remove the requirement for social distancing. There are many issues to be addressed including how the technology would work and its ease of use at major events, for both the attendees and the organisers.”

The statement added that “the final approach must not be discriminatory, should protect privacy, and have clear exit criteria”.

This year’s British GP is on July 16-18

https://youtube.com/watch?v=O3uzy6uzjkw%3Ffeature%3Doembed

In a separate tweet on Friday, Silverstone said: “While we hope there will be no restrictions on attendance at our events this summer we have, along with other major sporting venues, informed the government that we are in support of a review of COVID certification.

“We want to reassure fans that this is part of our contingency planning and we remain committed to running events this summer with as many spectators and as few restrictions as possible.

Silverstone held two behind-closed-doors grands prix last summer. The British GP attracted a race-day crowd of 141,000 when fans were last able to attend in 2019.

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