The Fijian Broadcasting Corporation (FBC) will still air three live premier league football matches each week despite the venues being opened to 80 percent of spectator capacity.

Fiji’s acting Prime Minister, Aiyaz Saiyed-Khaiyum, announced on 6 February that a ban on spectators attending matches had been lifted because 90 per cent of the targeted population had been fully vaccinated, the Fiji Sun reports.

The spectator ban was in force when FBC signed a three-year agreement to cover three Digicell Premier League matches a week on its pay-per-view Pop Up Channel.

At the time, the Fiji Football Association said the arrangement was appro­priate for the safety of all football fans as games would be played behind closed doors because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The association’s CEO, Mohammed Yusuf, confirmed this week that the pay-per-view agreement would still go ahead when the league kicks off this weekend. Part of the proceeds will go to the football teams involved.