Sion chairman-coach Christian Constantin responded to Essam Al-Hadari's request and re-opened the north side stands, according to the club's official website. The controversial president was repeatedly booed by sections of the crowd after taking over as interim coach earlier in the season. After getting fed up with the jeers, he banned the third-class fans from attending home matches by closing the north side stands for a while. Eventually, the 36-year-old guardian persuaded him to grant the misbehaved spectators a pardon to regain their support. Even though they were reprieved, the fans' return will be further delayed as their team's match against Lucerne in the Swiss League has been indefinitely postponed due to bad weather. The match was scheduled for Saturday, but it has been teeming with rain, which prompted the Swiss Football Association to put off the game. Now Sion have only one match against bitter rivals Neuchatel Xamax before the mid season break. This fixture is expected to be Al-Hadari's final match with the Swiss outfit, having revealed that he's going to seal a move in the January transfer window.
