Leeds United are set to begin their pre season in July. The club have friendlies against AC Milan, Manchester United and Villarreal in their preparations.
So far, the club has made two big signgins – Lukas Nmecha and Jaka Bijol. Both have added quality and depth to key areas of the squad. Leeds are set to announce a third signing; with Sebastiaan Bornauw set to arrive for a medical on Monday. More new faces are expected to arrive before pre season kicks off.
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The first part of the club’s preparations will involve a training camp in Germany.
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Police issue response to Leeds United
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Unfortunately for Leeds fans, German authorities have denied a request to allow fans to be present at the training camp. Which means the Whites will only host players and staff during the camp with no spectators present. Leeds issued a statement apologizing to the fans, claiming that they had permission from German authorities to allow fans.
The appropriate parties have now addressed the issue. Chief inspector of police Pascal Pettinato, of the State Office for Central Police Services NRW, has recently spoken to the YEP:
“There is an agreement between the Central Information Office for Sports Operations (ZIS) and the German Football Association (DFB) regarding international test matches. Every planned test match with international participation is checked for certain security aspects.
“These include, for example, that the venue must meet certain security-related requirements – such as the possibility of fan segregation – or that the local security authorities must not be required to request additional nationwide support forces.
“If even one of these security-relevant requirements is not met, such a test match can only be assessed negatively from a police perspective. To ensure that a match can still take place, the clubs have the option of excluding spectators from the event.
“At this point, I would also like to inform you that not every Leeds United match should have taken place without spectators. For example, there were initially plans to hold a match in Rostock where, as far as I know, spectators would have been allowed.”
Unfortunate news for everyone involved
The lack of fans will be a huge blow. Die hard supporters will not be able to catch an early glimpse of the team. And more importantly, the club misses out on the revenue they could have got from ticket sales.
This will be the second successive summer that the Whites miss out on this revenue stream.
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