Professional football around the world is gradually returning to action, but while Germany, Denmark, and South Korea got their leagues underway in empty stadiums, the scene is quite different in Vietnam.
Thousands of fans descended on stadiums around Vietnam on Friday as top-flight football returned without any social distancing measures or curbs on crowd sizes, owing to its success in combating the spread of the coronavirus.
Like most professional leagues, matches in Vietnam were suspended in March, but with no coronavirus deaths and just 328 confirmed cases, the Southeast Asian country is eagerly pursuing a return to normality to get its economy back on track.
The stadium in Nam Dinh was close to its 30,000 capacity as the home side lost 2-1 to visitors Viettel in one of three opening V League matches, where spectators stood shoulder-to-shoulder with few face masks to be seen.
Hand sanitiser was available as stewards performed temperature checks on fans, who were asked to wear masks as they entered.
"If we were scared of the virus we wouldn't have come," said Viettel fan Dinh Van Tam. "The measures taken to fight the virus were good to keep our health safe, that's why everybody is having fun."
Vietnam has won praise for its aggressive coronavirus testing and a mass, centralised quarantine programme, putting it on course to revive its economy sooner than others.
The V League's decision to pick up where it left off bucks a global pattern of countries preparing to restart leagues without supporters, while discussing changes to rules to handle fixture backlogs, the lack of atmosphere or fears about fans gathering outside grounds.
Leagues in Spain, England and Italy are set to resume this month, while the German Bundesliga has already restarted with a haunting atmosphere at empty stadiums and muted goal-scoring celebrations. Certain stadiums in Denmark have adopted "virtual grandstands" whereby fans are streamed via Zoom onto giant screens around the perimeter of the pitch.
Vietnam's national team captain Que Ngoc Hai of Viettel said it was wonderful to see a full stadium.
"I'm not saying this to compare us with other countries, but Vietnamese football has returned after the COVID outbreak, it showed how well us Vietnamese have fought the virus," he told Reuters.
Hotel Silence
Auður Ava Ólafsdóttir
Pushkin Press
MATCH INFO
Norwich City 0 Southampton 3 (Ings 49', Armstrong 54', Redmond 79')
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
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Director: Michael Bay
Stars: Ryan Reynolds, Adria Arjona, Dave Franco
2.5 / 5 stars
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League semi-final, first leg
Barcelona v Liverpool, Wednesday, 11pm (UAE).
Second leg
Liverpool v Barcelona, Tuesday, May 7, 11pm
Games on BeIN Sports
RESULT
Aston Villa 1
Samatta (41')
Manchester City 2
Aguero (20')
Rodri (30')
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Tearful appearance
Chancellor Rachel Reeves set markets on edge as she appeared visibly distraught in parliament on Wednesday.
Legislative setbacks for the government have blown a new hole in the budgetary calculations at a time when the deficit is stubbornly large and the economy is struggling to grow.
She appeared with Keir Starmer on Thursday and the pair embraced, but he had failed to give her his backing as she cried a day earlier.
A spokesman said her upset demeanour was due to a personal matter.
Global state-owned investor ranking by size
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• Scientists estimate there could be as many as 3 million fungal species globally
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Our legal columnist
Name: Yousef Al Bahar
Advocate at Al Bahar & Associate Advocates and Legal Consultants, established in 1994
Education: Mr Al Bahar was born in 1979 and graduated in 2008 from the Judicial Institute. He took after his father, who was one of the first Emirati lawyers
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