The pandemic continues to hit the start of the Liga MX Clausura 2022 tournament. In addition to the multiple infections that have been registered in various teams, postponing several matches, there is also the reduction in capacity in stadiums for the second consecutive week, which will affect seven scenarios around the republic.
Liga MX reported that of the eight teams that will play as locals on matchday 2, only one will be allowed 100% capacity: Cruz Azul, who will receive Bravos de Juárez at the Azteca stadium on Saturday at 9:00 p.m. According to the epidemiological traffic light of the Mexican government, from January 10 to 23, Mexico City remains green.
However, the rest of the teams will be affected up to 70% of their box office capacity. Pachuca is the team with the lowest capacity allowed with 30% when it faces Chivas on Sunday at 5:00 p.m. at the Hidalgo stadium, which means that only 7,776 fans will be able to enter.
Another affected capacity is the Corregidora stadium, home of the Gallos Blancos de Querétaro, which will receive Pumas on Friday night (7:00 p.m.) with 40% allowed, representing 13,642 fans. They are followed by three games with a 50% reduction: Necaxa receiving Monterrey, Tigres receiving Puebla and Tijuana receiving León.
Of the highest capacity, 60% is allowed for the Jalisco stadium in the debut of the champion, Atlas, against Atlético de San Luis, as well as 80% for the Nemesio Diez stadium in Santos Laguna’s visit to Toluca. After them is the 100% capacity that Cruz Azul will be allowed to receive Bravos, the only duel without capacity limitation.
It should be noted that the national epidemiological traffic light from January 10 to 23 marks that there are only three entities in orange: Baja California Sur, Tamaulipas and Chihuahua; The latter is where a Liga MX team plays, the Bravos de Juárez, although they will play at home until February 5, so they could change color.
Another 10 entities are in yellow and there is first division soccer in four of them: Baja California Norte (Xolos de Tijuana), Coahuila (Santos Laguna), Aguascalientes (Necaxa) and Sinaloa (Mazatlán FC). That is why Xolos and Rayos were reduced to 50% for matchday 2, while Santos played their postponed match from matchday 1 to 80%, receiving Tigres on Wednesday night.
The rest of entities such as Nuevo León, Jalisco and Mexico City, where more than one team competes, remain green; however, teams like Puebla announced a capacity reduced to 85% on matchday 1 when they received América, as well as Rayados, which was reduced to 50% when facing Querétaro on the opening date.
Not including the postponed match between Santos and Tigres, day 1 of Clausura 2022 brought together 112,867 fans, which means just 34% of the total capacity of the seven stadiums in which the match took place. The game with the highest attendance was Puebla against América, where 35,040 people entered, followed by the Akron stadium, which received 19,565 for the duel between Chivas and Mazatlán.
Regarding health protocols, Liga MX also reported that it detected seven positives out of 390 tests carried out on 11 clubs that will have action between Friday and Saturday on matchday 2. The infections are distributed as follows: three in Atlas, two in Atlético de San Luis and two in Necaxa. The agency specified that the tests are carried out 72 hours before the matches, as established by the statutes.
Reference-www.eleconomista.com.mx