Top-flight action resumed in Vietnam on Friday and there were masses of football fans packed into grounds to see it.

The country has pursued a return to normalcy after effectively dealing with the coronavirus pandemic and supporters were able to attend fixtures without social distancing measures in place.

There were also no restrictions on crowd sizes – with almost 30,000 attendees watching Nam Dinh’s home defeat against Viettel.

The Vietnam professional league was brought to a halt in March, but there have been no coronavirus deaths and just 328 confirmed cases in the Communist-ruled nation.

And with the authorities keen to restart their economy, football was given the official green light to pick up where it had left off after a three-month suspension.

Fans were pictured sitting shoulder-to-shoulder in bustling stands for the three opening V. League matches.

Hand sanitiser was made available for supporters and stewards also carried out temperature checks on those entering the venue. They were asked to wear face masks.

‘If we were scared of the virus we wouldn’t have come,’ Viettel fan Dinh Van Tam told Reuters.

‘The measures taken to fight the virus were good to keep our health safe, that’s why everybody is having fun.’

The V. League’s decision to restart with fans present is a stark contrast to Europe – with LaLiga, the Bundesliga and the Premier League among those to complete its remaining matches behind closed doors.

But Vietnam has been lauded for its response to the coronavirus crisis, with the country having implemented mass testing and a successful quarantine programme.

The measures have allowed football to return with crowds, and Vietnam national team captain Que Ngoc Hai admitted he was pleased fans were able to attend.

‘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.

SOURCE:- allfootballapp