Berlin (AFP)
Stopped since mid-March due to the new coronavirus pandemic, European football experienced its first clearing on Thursday: the German Bundesliga said it was ready to resume play behind closed doors on May 9, subject to authorities' agreement.
"The Bundesliga is ready, whether for a resumption on May 9 or at a later date," the president of the German Football League (DFL), Christian Seifert, told a remote press conference then that clubs resumed training in early April in small groups.
This scenario would make Germany the first of the major European football championships to resume and would allow the Bundesliga to save the windfall of television rights. However, it is dependent on validation by the German political authorities: a meeting between Chancellor Angela Merkel and the presidents of the regions (Länder) is scheduled for next Thursday.
Markus Söder, conservative leader of Bavaria where Bayern Munich plays, said Thursday that the opinion of the Robert Koch Institute, which is in charge of epidemiological monitoring in Germany, will be decisive for saying "if the concept (of recovery ) is good or not ".
If Germany is less destabilized than some European neighbors by the pandemic, large popular gatherings remain prohibited until at least August 31. Health Minister Jens Spahn nevertheless considered that behind closed doors and with adequate "precautions", football matches could undoubtedly be "possible".
- 20,000 tests per week -
Thursday, Christian Seifert presented his recovery plan, supported by professional clubs, but criticized by groups of supporters, unfavorable to this scenario of meetings without public, preferring a final stop of the championship.
"Meeting without spectators is not what we want, but it seems to be the only possibility," replied Christian Seifert. It provides only 200 people in total inside the stadiums (players, coaches, officials, media ...).
This plan also provides for a return to the stadiums under strict sanitary conditions, with in particular 20,000 tests to be carried out each week. According to the Robert Koch Institute, testing capacity in Germany is 818,000 per week, said Christian Seifert.
"Professional football would only use 0.4%" of these resources, he said.
If a team member tests positive for Covid-19, they should be placed in isolation and the people with whom they have been in contact should be tested. But placing the entire team in quarantine will not be automatic.
"We will not be able to maintain a distance of 1.50 meters on the ground. However, we want to guarantee the best degree of security," he added. "If this concept is rejected, then it is clear that we will probably not be able to play either in a few months. The Bundesliga would then be collateral damage from the coronavirus crisis."
- The question of the European places decided -
From an economic point of view, German professional football has also recorded good news: the threat of club bankruptcy seems to have been averted, since Christian Seifert explained that he had obtained "agreements with almost all media partners", ensuring the club liquidity until June 30.
The payment of the last installment of television rights for the Bundesliga is estimated at 300 million euros.
If Germany seems to be moving towards a recovery, other countries prefer to throw in the towel in the face of health risks: the championship of the Netherlands, by decision of the authorities, is heading for a final halt, while Belgium also plans to end his season.
The European Football Union (UEFA) continues to campaign actively for the resumption and completion of the season, in order to save its lucrative Champions League.
But the European body began Thursday to consider a possible halt in certain countries, by settling the crucial question of the allocation of European places by the various national championships in the event of a truncated season.
For UEFA, access to the European Cups must be based on "sporting merit", a formulation which seems, for example, to exclude the scenario of a "white season" which would have consisted in renewing the qualified teams a year earlier .
© 2020 AFP