The Carabao Cup final has been postponed until April 2021 with the hope that the government of the United Kingdom would have allowed more spectators into match venues before then.
The final which was initially scheduled to take place on February 28 at the Wembley Stadium was rescheduled for April 25 to avoid having a small number of spectators at the stadium during the game.
This decision was reached after the government of the UK introduced a new tier-four coronavirus restriction last weekend which mostly affects parts of south-eastern and eastern England. Stadiums that fell under tier three and four in the country are not permitted to host spectators during live games.
Unfortunately, the Carabao Cup final which is also known as the EFL Cup might be played behind closed doors if the restriction is not lifted before the earlier scheduled kick-off date. Hence, to ensure that the possibility of hosting fans is increased, the competition had to be postponed until April.
“It is the objective of the League to stage the final with as many supporters in attendance as possible and the decision has therefore been taken to move the final from its original date of Sunday 28 February 2021 to later in the year”, a statement from the EFL read.
“The number of fans permitted will be dependent on Government guidance in place at the time and it is hoped that moving the date to later in the year will give clubs and their fans the best opportunity to attend in person.”
Recall that when football returned to England in June 2020 after the three months induced coronavirus break, clubs were forced to play behind closed doors to prevent the spread of the deadly coronavirus. The 2019-2020 season was completed behind closed doors in line with the coronavirus restriction.
When the 2020-2021 season started, clubs were expecting that they would start hosting fans in October but it wasn’t to be because the spread of the virus continued to wax stronger in the country.
Before December 2020, the government introduced the tier system which gave stadiums that fell under tier one and two the privilege of hosting 4,000 and 2,000 spectators respectively.
Unfortunately for stadiums in London where the Wembley Stadium is located, the city was moved to tier three from tier two which means that stadiums in the city will not be able to host fans.
The postponement of the Carabao Cup final will not affect the scheduled quarter-finals fixtures. The four fixtures will be played on Tuesday and Wednesday as scheduled.
This season’s @Carabao_Cup Final has been rescheduled.
— EFL (@EFL) December 21, 2020
Further details below.#EFL | #CarabaoCup https://t.co/vKAXVFaJUl
Below are Carabao Cup quarter-finals fixtures:
Tuesday, December 22
Brentford vs Newcastle – 17:30
Arsenal vs Manchester City – 20:00
Wednesday, December 23
Stoke vs Tottenham – 17:30
Everton vs Manchester United – 20:00
