Berlin (AFP)
A glimmer of hope for the Bundesliga: the sports ministers of the German Länders have considered possible a resumption "mid-May or end of May" and behind closed doors of the German Football Championship, which awaits the green light from the government to complete a season damaged by the coronavirus pandemic.
Sports officials from the 16 regional states, or Länder, said it was "justifiable" that the championship resume in "empty stadiums" from "mid-May or late May", in a statement sent after their meeting Monday.
For this, "the German Football League (DFL) must put in place and impose the strictest hygiene measures and medical conditions", it is specified.
Chancellor Angela Merkel is scheduled to meet with the Presidents of the Länder in Berlin on Thursday.
Last week, the DFL announced that it was ready for a resumption from May 9, behind closed doors by applying hygiene measures and testing players regularly.
A resumption in May will make the Bundesliga the first of the major European championships to resume competition stopped since mid-March, while Germany launched its deconfinement campaign in a country where the Covid-19 caused almost 6,000 death.
Influential politicians, including Minister of Health Jens Spahn, supported plans to take over the DFL which are currently under consideration by the Minister of Labor. For their part, the daily Bild and Bavarian Sueddeutsche Zeitung believe that the date of May 9 "is probably" too early for a recovery.
Borussia Dortmund boss Hans-Joachim Watzke has warned that "the whole Bundesliga could collapse" if the championship does not resume. In any case, "it will no longer exist in the form we know," he assured Sky Sports News.
The big German clubs desperately hope to complete the season by June 30 in order to benefit from the financial windfall of television estimated at 300 million euros.
According to Kicker magazine, 13 of the 36 first and second division clubs are on the verge of bankruptcy due to the crisis.
© 2020 AFP