Exclusive: Lions series against South Africa could still be staged in UK - even without fans

[ASFN Admin]

The British and Irish Lions series against South Africa could still be staged in the UK and Ireland despite the possibility that matches might have to be played behind closed doors. It had been thought the option of a ‘home’ tour was fading fast because the initial financial modelling was based on capacity crowds being able to attend three Test matches at Twickenham, the Principality Stadium in Cardiff and the Aviva Stadium in Dublin by July and August. However ahead of a key board meeting of the Lions board on Friday, sources indicated last night that the option of staging the series in the UK and Ireland remains firmly on the table, with the support of two of the home unions, despite the precarious position of the pandemic and uncertainty over future Covid-19 restrictions. “The decision is on a knife edge, the board are facing an extremely difficult decision to make, especially given the two variants are in the UK and South Africa,” said a Lions source. “Even with the vaccine programme in the UK going so well it is unlikely that all adults will have been vaccinated by the summer.” Telegraph Sport can reveal that tour broadcast rights holder Sky Sports has told the Lions board that it would prefer the tour to take place as scheduled in South Africa – even if that means the matches must take place behind closed doors. However, the broadcaster is also thought to have indicated that it ‘wants to be a good partner’ should plans change and there was a clear indication yesterday that support remains for the contingency plan - even if restrictions are not relaxed in time to allow capacity crowds to attend. Given that the broadcast deal is by far the biggest of the Lions’ commercial partners, even without the revenues from ticketing, hospitality and travel packages, it is understood that a behind closed doors tour would generate a small profit for both the Lions and the South African Rugby Union.

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