Berlin (AFP)

The German Minister of the Interior and Sports said he was in favor of a resumption of the national football championship on Sunday despite the coronavirus pandemic, in an interview with the daily Bild.

"I find the schedule proposed by the German Football League plausible and I support a restart in May," said Horst Seehofer, three days from a meeting of the German authorities to decide on this subject.

The German League (DFL) argues for a resumption of matches behind closed doors around mid-May, which would make Germany the first major European championship to take this step.

The opinion of Mr. Seehofer, who plays a key role in the government on this file given the two portfolios for which he is responsible, stressed however that teams and players should respect several conditions and would not be entitled to " no privileges. "

"If there is a case of corona within a team or its management, the club as a whole, and possibly also the team against which it played last, will have to put itself for two weeks in quarantine" said the minister.

"There will therefore continue to be risks for the calendar of meetings and for the classification" in the event of contamination, he added, "which requires everyone great discipline in the prevention of corona".

Likewise, it refused that the clubs have a privileged access compared to the rest of the population to the tests, whereas the clubs suggested very frequent tests of their players as a prevention.

© 2020 AFP