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The SPD health expert Karl Lauterbach expects further restrictions on sport after the next Corona summit.
If the number of cases does not develop well, the member of the Bundestag predicts even more painful cuts before the deliberations of the federal government and prime minister on Wednesday.
Even with professional football, the 57-year-old epidemiology professor outlined, it is not certain how long the game can be maintained.
The demands from the national leagues for spectators in the stadium are in any case "completely unrealistic at the moment".
Question:
You were a bogeyman for the Bundesliga at the beginning of the pandemic, and you ran up against the ghost games.
Why did you change your mind?
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Karl Lauterbach:
The ghost games have proven to be safer than I thought.
I had thought that there would be big fan groups around the ghost games and that fans would infect each other.
I also expected a higher number of infected players.
I was wrong on both counts.
Question:
There are now more and more corona cases in the clubs.
Do you think professional football can go on?
Lauterbach:
If there are more and more cases in the clubs themselves, then it will be difficult.
Then the ghost games are no longer as safe as they were.
The role model function is then no longer given.
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Question:
Should other requirements apply in handball, basketball or ice hockey, i.e. in indoor sports, than in football?
Lauterbach:
A sport that is done outside has a much lower risk of infection.
Indoor sports cannot be safely accompanied with the currently high number of cases and the athletes cannot be made safe with corona tests.
Question:
Shouldn't politics deal with the concepts of the sports associations in more detail because of these differences?
Is a blanket ban to be conveyed?
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Lauterbach:
A blanket ban is also difficult to justify.
We currently want to reduce the number of contacts, including sports contacts, to an absolute minimum.
We have to put the threat to the players, but also to their families, in the foreground.
Question:
If the number of cases does not develop well, what then?
Lauterbach:
Then I could well imagine that we would completely ban recreational and professional sports, at least indoor sports.
Even with professional football, I'm not sure how long we can hold out.
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Question:
Can you understand the demands from the national leagues for spectators?
Lauterbach:
At the moment, they are completely unrealistic.
Question:
Even if the clubs and associations have elaborate hygiene concepts?
Lauterbach:
How should a hygiene concept work if all unnecessary contact is to be avoided.
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Question:
Do you expect further restrictions on sport at the meeting between the Chancellor and the Prime Minister on Wednesday?
Lauterbach:
At least I expect further restrictions for areas outside of sport.
Of course, they will then also have to be used in sport.
Understandably, sport is now not in the foreground of what we have to decide.
It's going to be a tough day.
After the decisions have been made, thought must be given to what does this mean for sport?
Karl Lauterbach has taken on the role of reminder and warner in the Corona crisis.
That's why he receives death threats.
To distract himself, he likes to play table tennis
Source: dpa / Oliver Berg
Question:
Where do you see the importance of sport at the moment?
Lauterbach:
The importance of sport is high.
The population has a right to the fact that sport can take place in a restricted manner even if it is well justified.
But I am concerned that the sport will not be able to be practiced in the way that we are practicing it for much longer.
Question:
Wouldn't it be important to enable movement - for young and old?
Lauterbach:
You don't need any contact with others in order to move.
Movement is of course optimal - but you can also go for a walk or jog without having any contact.
We cannot get out of the high incidence, which inevitably leads to overload in intensive care medicine and several hundred deaths per day if we do not reduce the number of contacts by 75 percent.
The contacts during sport are no more important than the contacts outside of sport during leisure time.
Question:
The Bundesliga played football at the weekend, handball and basketball players were also on the ball. How can you explain to children that they are not allowed to play?
Lauterbach:
That is difficult to explain.
But we have security concepts in professional sport, the players are tested beforehand - you can assume a certain security.
This is not possible when playing with children.
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Question:
When do you expect recreational sport to pick up speed again?
Lauterbach:
That is difficult to say.
It depends very much on whether we succeed in significantly reducing the number of cases again.
If we are successful in lowering the number of cases in the next few weeks, then we will have more fun again in sport and enjoy more freedom.
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