More can see Matildas, possibly Socceroos in ‘groundbreaking announcement’

The New South Wales government has increased capacity for the upcoming home Matildas games and the opened door to a Socceroos home November match.

The NSW Government has announced that the upcoming two Matildas games against Brazil on October 23 and 26, 2021 will be allowed to host with an increased capacity of 75%.

This means that 22,500 spectators will be allowed to watch the Australians play at CommBank Stadium for each match held later this month. This could see the Matildas break their current home record of 20,029 fans which was recorded on November 9, 2019 against Chile.

This is welcomed news for fans who may have missed out when the original allocation of tickets was sold out on the day of the opening of sales, last Tuesday. Football Australia will soon be announcing when the next group of tickets will be available for purchase.

Only fans from the Greater Sydney region are eligible to attend with ticket holders aged 16 and over needing to be fully vaccinated. Speaking of the news the FA's CEO James Johnson said on Football Australia's website:

“Today’s announcement to increase the venue capacity at CommBank Stadium for the Commonwealth Bank Matildas’ two-match series against Brazil next week to 75% of the venue’s 30,000 capacity, is another ground breaking announcement for Australian football following the NSW Government’s approval of our submission to host these matches in Sydney within the 14-day mandatory quarantine period.

“This now means that more NSW based fans will be able to see their favourite national women’s team live once again, and also paves the way for Sydney to host the Socceroos’ crucial home AFC Asian Qualifier – Road to Qatar match against Saudi Arabia on 11 November.

“We are delighted that Australian football has paved the way for international sport to be played in Australia under these new arrangements and that we can continue to support NSW Government in its efforts to reopen the State.”

The announcement comes two days after Socceroos head coach Graham Arnold appealed to the NSW government to allow the upcoming home match against Saudi Arabia to be held in Sydney. Football Australia are currently in negotiations with the NSW government to allow this to occur.

Should the request ultimately be allowed, the November 11, 2021 AFC 2022 World Cup qualifying match would be the first Socceroos game held in Australia since they played Nepal in Canberra on October 10, 2019.