The Premier League may have a different look when it resumes next week but it could be aiming to make the same noise.
Piped-in crowd songs might be among the innovations used to compensate for the lack of fans in grounds as the league tries to improve the experience for supporters at home.
There could also be 'fan walls' on big screens, composed of supporters on Zoom calls, allowing them to react to events and for both players and television viewers to see them. Most grounds currently have a couple of big screens but more may be erected, partly so footballers can see supporters celebrating goals or victories.
The English top flight and its clubs are considering a variety of ways to generate more atmosphere and give more of a feel to games played with thousands of empty seats.
Broadcaster Sky Sports is working with EA Sports, the company behind the popular Fifa games, to create crowd noises which television viewers would get the option of hearing. They could also choose the sound within the stadium, enabling them to hear managers and players who are usually drowned out by thousands of spectators.
Pre-recorded songs by fans could be used to mark goals and other landmarks like substitutions, VAR appeals or the final whistle when the ball is not in play.
Some German Bundesliga clubs have used giant banners at the bottom of stands, meaning television viewers do not see thousands of empty seats behind the pitch. Premier League clubs should follow suit, though some of those banners could be advertising for club sponsors.
Aston Villa appealed on Friday for fans to send in their flags or banners which could be used at Villa Park, while Wolves announced they would cover part of the Jack Hayward Stand at Molineux with a large flag formed of a mosaic of supporters’ faces.
Eight clubs, including Brighton & Hove Albion and Newcastle United, are reportedly in talks with a company to provide them with cardboard cutouts of thousands of fans.
Borussia Monchengladbach are among the German clubs who have used them to give the impression the ground was full – though when that approach was tried at an NRL game in Sydney, one supporter instead put up an image of UK prime minister Boris Johnson's lockdown-breaching advisor Dominic Cummings.
Meanwhile, ballboys may suddenly look older if club staff, who have already been tested for coronavirus, are used in place of the usual children to retrieve stray shots and clearances.
Clubs have already got accustomed to using disinfected balls during training and now the sight of staff disinfecting them during games could become more common.
And as in Germany, substitutes are likely to be spaced out in stands, to observe social distancing, rather than all being sat in the dugouts behind managers. Spaced-out press boxes are also likely to accommodate those members of the media who are permitted to attend.
To limit contact between broadcasters and footballers, there may be some unmanned cameras in fixed positions in grounds, while pre-match interviews could be recorded by players on their phones and post-match press conferences might be conducted via zoom.
The Premier League had already abandoned its usual pre-match handshakes before it halted in March and they will not be returning in the restart.
F1 The Movie
Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem
Director: Joseph Kosinski
Rating: 4/5
Visa changes give families fresh hope
Foreign workers can sponsor family members based solely on their income
Male residents employed in the UAE can sponsor immediate family members, such as wife and children, subject to conditions that include a minimum salary of Dh 4,000 or Dh 3,000 plus accommodation.
Attested original marriage certificate, birth certificate of the child, ejari or rental contract, labour contract, salary certificate must be submitted to the government authorised typing centre to complete the sponsorship process
In Abu Dhabi, a woman can sponsor her husband and children if she holds a residence permit stating she is an engineer, teacher, doctor, nurse or any profession related to the medical sector and her monthly salary is at least Dh 10,000 or Dh 8,000 plus accommodation.
In Dubai, if a woman is not employed in the above categories she can get approval to sponsor her family if her monthly salary is more than Dh 10,000 and with a special permission from the Department of Naturalization and Residency Dubai.
To sponsor parents, a worker should earn Dh20,000 or Dh19,000 a month, plus a two-bedroom accommodation
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
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Abu Dhabi racecard
5pm: Maiden (Purebred Arabians); Dh80,000; 1,400m.
5.30pm: Maiden (PA); Dh80,00; 1,400m.
6pm: Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan National Day Cup (PA); Group 3; Dh500,000; 1,600m.
6.30pm: Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan National Day Cup (Thoroughbred); Listed; Dh380,000; 1,600m
7pm: Wathba Stallions Cup for Private Owners Handicap (PA); Dh70,000; 1,400m.
7.30pm: Handicap (PA); Dh80,000; 1,600m
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RESULTS
Argentina 4 Haiti 0
Peru 2 Scotland 0
Panama 0 Northern Ireland 0
Stage result
1. Jasper Philipsen (Bel) Alpecin-Fenix 4:42:34
2. Sam Bennett (Irl) Bora-Hansgrohe
3. Elia Viviani (Ita) Ineos Grenadiers
4. Dylan Groenewegen (Ned) BikeExchange-Jayco
5. Emils Liepins (Lat) Trek-Segafredo
6. Arnaud Demare (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
7. Max Kanter (Ger) Movistar Team
8. Olav Kooij (Ned) Jumbo-Visma
9. Tom Devriendt (Bel) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux
10. Pascal Ackermann (Ger) UAE Team Emirate
Western Clubs Champions League:
- Friday, Sep 8 - Abu Dhabi Harlequins v Bahrain
- Friday, Sep 15 – Kandy v Abu Dhabi Harlequins
- Friday, Sep 22 – Kandy v Bahrain
Our legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
In-demand jobs and monthly salaries
- Technology expert in robotics and automation: Dh20,000 to Dh40,000
- Energy engineer: Dh25,000 to Dh30,000
- Production engineer: Dh30,000 to Dh40,000
- Data-driven supply chain management professional: Dh30,000 to Dh50,000
- HR leader: Dh40,000 to Dh60,000
- Engineering leader: Dh30,000 to Dh55,000
- Project manager: Dh55,000 to Dh65,000
- Senior reservoir engineer: Dh40,000 to Dh55,000
- Senior drilling engineer: Dh38,000 to Dh46,000
- Senior process engineer: Dh28,000 to Dh38,000
- Senior maintenance engineer: Dh22,000 to Dh34,000
- Field engineer: Dh6,500 to Dh7,500
- Field supervisor: Dh9,000 to Dh12,000
- Field operator: Dh5,000 to Dh7,000
ELIO
Starring: Yonas Kibreab, Zoe Saldana, Brad Garrett
Directors: Madeline Sharafian, Domee Shi, Adrian Molina
Rating: 4/5
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Places to go for free coffee
- Cherish Cafe Dubai, Dubai Investment Park, are giving away free coffees all day.
- La Terrace, Four Points by Sheraton Bur Dubai, are serving their first 50 guests one coffee and four bite-sized cakes
- Wild & The Moon will be giving away a free espresso with every purchase on International Coffee Day
- Orange Wheels welcome parents are to sit, relax and enjoy goodies at ‘Café O’ along with a free coffee
THREE
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WOMAN AND CHILD
Director: Saeed Roustaee
Starring: Parinaz Izadyar, Payman Maadi
Rating: 4/5
