Domingos Soares de Oliveira: "Adrenalin shock that comes from the stands will be absent"

Estádio da Luz will now have 65 thousand empty seats. The Liga NOS matches will return in the end of May, but without supporters. An exceptional decision that Domingos Soares de Oliveira believes will be "a poorer experience", but inevitable.

"This is the minimum scenario that the clubs wanted, and I hope it happens without any problems. But it's far from the ideal scenario", said the CEO of Sport Lisboa e Benfica to the "Visão" magazine.

And it's not just in the stadiums that the stands will be empty. Group interaction will also be put to the test.

"There is a very big and very difficult challenge, which will be to deal with the non-socialization of the supporters with the team and the supporters among themselves explained the Reds’ CEO. 

With the gradual return to the stadiums, another issue is required: compliance with social distancing, even in the face of a reduced maximum capacity.

"It’s difficult to control that. In football, unlike the celebrations of 25 of April in the Assembly of the Republic, a mass, or the 1st of May, it's very difficult to require people to control themselves, not hug a stranger, who may be four chairs away", claimed Domingos Soares de Oliveira.

"There's a shock of adrenaline that comes from the stands and it will be absent", he regretted, considering this "a poorer experience in all aspects"

However, Domingos Soares de Oliveira believes that this decision of resuming to the I Liga, behind closed doors, turns out to be a lesser evil. " It would be worse if one couldn't play ", he finished.

Photos: SL Benfica / Archive