Fans' return to grounds in October 'paused' amid more Covid fears

Plans for fans to return to football grounds in October will not go ahead, Michael Gove has confirmed.

It had been pencilled in for supporters to go back to watching their teams from October 1, with MK Dons' first opportunity coming in their home clash against Ipswich on October 3.

But after the UK's Covid-19 level raised to four, those plans have been 'paused' until further notice.

"We were looking at a staged programme of more people returning - it wasn't going to be the case that we were going to have stadiums thronged with fans," said cabinet office minister Gove.

"We're looking at how we can, for the moment, pause that programme, but what we do want to do is to make sure that, as and when circumstances allow, get more people back.

"The virus is less likely to spread outdoors than indoors but again it's in the nature of major sporting events that there's a lot of mingling.

"What we must do is look at sporting events now with caution but we also recognise that sport is a vital part of this nation and we're looking at everything we can do to support our athletes, our great clubs, through what will be a challenging time."