Football: Bundesliga to resume in mid-May behind closed doors

In Germany, football is coming up again, but not without cringing ... The German government authorized the resumption of the Bundesliga behind closed doors from mid-May, despite the health risks and critics from other sports.

Politik ermöglicht Saison-Fortsetzung für #Bundesliga und 2. Bundesliga ab der zweiten Mai-Hälfte - Statement von Christian Seifert ➡️ https://t.co/pJysZ3K70x pic.twitter.com/kdNs29o5Cn

More than two months after the interruption of competitions due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Bundesliga will therefore be the first major football championship to be restarted, on the basis of draconian sanitary measures. The exact date of recovery will be fixed very soon by the German Football League (DFL).

"The Bundesliga can resume from the second half of May on the basis of the agreed rules," said Chancellor Angela Merkel after a meeting with the regions on deconfinement measures on Wednesday.

France has drawn a line under the end of the season last week and England, Spain and Italy hope, at best, to resume in June. Other countries have already set their resumption date, including the small championship of the Faroe Islands (May 9), Serbia (May 30), Croatia (June 6) or even Turkey (June 12).

In the standings, Bayern Munich led the break after 25 days, four points ahead of Dortmund, and can aim for their 8th consecutive championship title.

Economic pragmatism ...

The DFL, which convened its general assembly for Thursday, has long advocated for this recovery, crucial for the economic balance of a sector which employs 56,000 people in Germany.

If the last nine days of the Bundesliga (first and second divisions) can be disputed, the German clubs will recover 300 million euros of TV rights, enough to absorb their losses, while more than a dozen clubs out of 36 are on the verge of bankruptcy, according to the German press.

While Germany has a better health record than its neighbors in the face of the pandemic, the League has presented to the public authorities a very complete medical protocol, based on the multiplication of tests for the detection of coronavirus and on countless measures of protection, which she believes will relaunch competition at lower risk.

The danger, if it seems statistically low, is not negligible, however. Dr. Wilhelm Bloch, of the Cologne Higher School of Sport, warned on Wednesday of the serious consequences that a lung infection can have for professional athletes: "An athlete must take into account the fact that an infection can mean the end of his career, "he warns.

On Monday, the German Football League announced that ten out of 1,724 people tested in the 36 first and second division clubs were positive. The bet to resume football will be won only if this figure remains very low, and that no club is forced to forfeit because of too many infections.

... and sanitary puzzles

According to the protocol in place, everyone taking part in training or a match will be tested at least once a week. Positive cases will be quarantined, but the rest of the group will not necessarily be placed.

For matches, a maximum of 300 people will be allowed. Handshakes, group photos and other non-essential contacts will be prohibited. Substitutes will occupy only one seat out of two on the bench.

The catalog of hygiene and prevention measures does not stop there, and covers training, travel and accommodation.

But this return to football is far from unanimous. "The state sells the health of the population and of sick people to football, it's perverse," defeated the 2017 world champion of the javelin Johannes Vetter, in an interview with a regional newspaper.

Former world weight champion Christina Schwanitz believes that football enjoys unacceptable privileges: "I don't find it good that football has this particular position and sits on everything else, just because it generates a lot of money".

As for the European diving champion Tina Punzel, she finds it "regrettable that thousands of tests (of coronavirus) are used" for football, taking up an argument repeatedly heard in recent days in Germany.

With AFP

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