Published: 18:37, June 8, 2020 | Updated: 01:01, June 6, 2023
Sound of the crowd or sound of the stands: La Liga has options for fans
By Xinhua

A picture shows the empty entrance to the Camp Nou stadium in Barcelona on March 13, 2020 after La Liga said Spain's top two divisions would be suspended for at least two weeks over the coronavirus outbreak. (JOSEP LAGO / AFP)

MADRID - Although the remaining 11 rounds of games in La Liga will be played without supporters in the stands when football returns to Spain this week, that doesn't mean there won't be crowd noise.

Speaking on TV network Movistar on Sunday evening, La Liga President Javier Tebas explained that fans watching La Liga matches on TV will be given two options. They can either follow the option taken in Germany to broadcast the atmosphere of the empty grounds or listen to an artificially created atmosphere for every game.

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"We have been working on this from the start and we have decided to give the fans two options," explained Tebas.

"We have worked with Norwegian company EA Sports for their sound from the FIFA videogame. When you play FIFA you can hear the noise from the stadiums," he added, explaining that the crowd noise will rise and fall with the flow of the game.

"We will see a brilliant virtual direction of the game, although fans will be able to choose between the virtual atmosphere or the real one," he concluded.

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Football will return this Thursday in Spain with the Seville derby, one of the most passionately contested matches on the Spanish calendar, between Sevilla and Real Betis. This will be a good test of just how good the "virtual" crowd sound really is.

In this Oct 10, 2019 photo, the president of Spanish Liga Javier Tebas poses on the red carpet during the premiere of Cirque du Soleil's latest show "Messi 10" inspired by Argentinian football star Lionel Messi in Barcelona. (JOSEP LAGO / AFP)