london two thousand five hundred fans will be allowed into brighton hove albions amex stadium for a preseason friendly against chelsea on saturday after the british government announced pilot events for the return of spectators to elite sportother football matches in the trial include a womens preseason friendly at lewes on sunday a womens super league clash between west ham united and arsenal and nonleague finals dayharlequins premiership rugby match against bath at twickenham on sept 5 will also allow fans in reduced numbersbob willis trophy and t20 blast domestic cricket matches are part of the scheme which also covers horse racing basketball and speedway eventsthe government had cancelled the pilot scheme at the end of the last month due to a spike in covid19 infection ratesthe new phase of the testing programme began with the world snooker championship final in sheffield on aug 1516the department for digital culture media and sport dcmshopes to test a range of different event styles building up throughout september with a view to a full reopening for fans in octoberi know fans and their teams cant wait to be reunited in stadia across the country but its imperative we take a cautious and phased approach to get fans back in safely dcms secretary of state oliver dowden said in a statementim pleased that infection rates have levelled off enough to resume the pilot programme and we will continue to work intensively with sports medical and health and safety experts towards welcoming more fans back as fast as we can