Interesting story from Sankei the other day about flagging attendance at Urawa Reds, who only filled half of their 18,000 cap for their Oct. 4 game against Nagoya. Writer blames fans who are whistling in violation of J. League& #39;s CV19 prevention rules. https://www.sankei.com/premium/news/201013/prm2010130006-n1.html">https://www.sankei.com/premium/n...

18,000 certainly shouldn& #39;t be a stretch for a club that averaged over 34,000 last season and arguably boasts - for better or for worse - the largest and most passionate active support in the league.

Are fans staying away because of the droplet risk, or because they can& #39;t cheer?

Or is it just the national mood, which is "everything is a complete bummer and we& #39;re not going to go out and enjoy ourselves until the virus is sorted?"

Probably a combination of all three if we& #39;re being completely honest, and it& #39;s not really great news for Urawa.

The problem Urawa faces is that while anywhere else they could completely lean into their stadium being a totally hostile environment for visiting teams and the "Welcome to Red Hell" ethos, that all runs counter to the J.League& #39;s principle of being Safe And Fun For Everyone.