Football's Pandemic Transformation: Empty Stadiums, Artificial Crowds, and Political Gestures
The COVID-19 pandemic has transformed football in Europe, with matches held in silent stadiums filled with cardboard cutouts. Broadcasters, like Sky Deutschland, use artificial crowd soundtracks, drawing from past matches. German audio engineers studied video games to meet viewer expectations. The stillness at venues, such as Juventus Stadium during the March 8 match between Juventus and Inter Milan, preceded league suspensions, except for the Belarusian Premier League. Players in England wear NHS badges and 'Black Lives Matter' on jerseys, taking knees in solidarity. Italian games honor medical staff. Liverpool fans decorated Anfield's Spion Kop for their first league title in 30 years. Writer Orit Gat reflects on these emotional transformations.
Key facts
- European football leagues halted due to COVID-19 in March 2020
- Matches resumed in empty stadiums with artificial crowd sounds
- Sky Deutschland created 'audio carpets' using previous match recordings
- German audio engineers studied video games for sound design
- Juventus played Inter Milan in an empty stadium on March 8, 2020
- Only Belarusian Premier League continued playing during pandemic
- Players wear NHS badges and 'Black Lives Matter' on jerseys in England
- Italian games feature doctors on pitch honoring medical staff
Entities
Artists
- Philippe Parreno
- Douglas Gordon
- Zinedine Zidane
- Orit Gat
- Grant Farred
- Arthur Nortje
Institutions
- Liverpool Football Club
- Premier League
- Watford Football Club
- Juventus
- Inter Milan
- Borussia-Park
- FC Seoul
- Sky Deutschland
- ESPN
- Real Madrid
- Villarreal
- NFL
- NHS
- The White Review
Locations
- Anfield
- Liverpool
- England
- Rome
- Italy
- Turin
- Germany
- Spain
- France
- Belarus
- Seoul
- South Korea
- London
- United Kingdom
- South Africa