Berlin (AFP)
The German football championship, suspended because of the new coronavirus pandemic, could resume on May 9 behind closed doors, two regional leaders said in Bild on Monday.
"Yes, May 9 is a possible date," says on the website of the newspaper Armin Laschet, conservative president of North Rhine-Westphalia, three days from a meeting by videoconference between representatives of the 36 clubs of first and second divisions on a possible resumption of the Bundesliga.
One of the conditions according to him is a consensus among all 16 German regions, while the German Football Federation (DFL) is awaiting a green light from the government of Chancellor Angela Merkel.
Markus Söder, conservative leader in Bavaria, the region most affected by the epidemic, is also in favor of a resumption of matches "May 9 at the earliest", without an audience.
"A weekend with football is much more bearable than a weekend without football," adds Söder, for whom "playing in public is totally unthinkable".
"There will be no more matches with spectators this season," also thinks Mr. Laschet, large popular rallies being banned in Germany at least until August 31 to curb the spread of the coronavirus.
DFL President Fritz Keller regretted the in camera requirement. "We are very aware that football without supporters lacks sap," he told Kicker.
"I know how much it hurts fans not to be able to support their players from the stands," added the manager.
The DFL hopes in the event of recovery to be able to end the season by June 30 to unlock a payment of TV rights, with an estimated value of around 300 million euros.
Without this windfall, Fritz Keller fears that "some fans may never be able to attend a game of their club, because it may soon no longer exist".
However, some supporters across the country disapprove of this scenario.
"The resumption of football, even in the form of matches behind closed doors, is not justifiable," the group of supporters Fanszenen Deutschlands said in a statement. "It would be an insult to the rest of society (...) in particular to the nursing staff."
Another point, which must be addressed on Thursday, will have to be clarified: that of the tests aimed at detecting carriers of the virus, to which the players and members of the technical teams of the clubs will have to submit. According to the press, it would take 20,000 tests, normally reserved for the sick and carers, to complete the season.
"It would be a mistake to use thousands of tests for in camera matches when there are not enough to test home nurses and teachers", protested the social deputy on Twitter democrat and epidemiologist Karl Lauterbach.
Football has been stopped in Germany since March 13, because of the pandemic of coronavirus, a virus which caused the death in the country of 4,404 people and infected 141,672 according to according to the last count of the Robert Koch Institute.
© 2020 AFP