It's the news many BVB fans have been keenly waiting for: the state government of North Rhine-Westphalia announced today (Thursday) that new Corona Protection Regulations will take effect from 1 October 2021, leading to changes in capacity restrictions for major events. Borussia Dortmund is responding to the new regulation by offering fans an initial 11,000 additional tickets for the FC Augsburg game on 2 October.

This Saturday, for the first time during the corona pandemic, BVB will welcome more than the previously allowed maximum of 25,000 spectators to Signal Iduna Park. That number of fans have already secured tickets in recent days.

"The trust of the NRW state government makes us very happy. All of us at BVB have sorely missed each and every fan over the past year and a half," said CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke. Managing director Carsten Cramer declared: "Of course, we cannot return to full capacity in the short term, and we know that the road back to 81,365 spectators will require some patience for various reasons. The new Corona Protection Regulations stipulate that in future we will be allowed to sell all 52,692 seated tickets and half of the 28,673 standing tickets. That adds up to just over 67,000 tickets. Due to the short notice of the new regulation, this can only be implemented for our home match against Mainz on 16 October. Nevertheless, we would like to give our fans the immediate opportunity to purchase additional tickets for the match against Augsburg, in addition to the quota already sold."

Here's how it will work: Borussia Dortmund will put the tickets on general sale to all BVB fans this Thursday (30.09.21) from 10:30 CET. The sale will take place via the Online Ticket Shop. Due to the short notice, only day tickets are still available as Print@home tickets. A maximum of six tickets can be purchased per buyer. Only the ticket buyer's personal data will be required when ordering.

Adult ticket holders must be immunised. In future checks will no longer be carried out in the area around the stadium, but directly at the turnstile as you enter. Digital proof must be presented for this purpose. Children from the age of six and young people up to the age of 18, as well as pregnant women and people who cannot be vaccinated for health reasons, can be admitted by providing a negative test.

If the additional 11,000 seats released in the first wave for the Augsburg match are quickly sold out, Borussia Dortmund will respond by releasing additional blocks for purchase in the upper tiers of the west and east stands.

We will provide information on the advance sale for the match against Mainz 05 at the beginning of next week.