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It's a state that fans don't want to get used to.
With a few exceptions at the beginning of the season, the Bundesliga has been playing its games as ghost games since mid-March due to the corona pandemic.
There is an eerie atmosphere in the stadiums, instead of chants, the instructions of the coaches can be heard.
A state that is currently necessary, but with which neither the fans nor the German Football League (DFL) and clubs are satisfied.
An extremely important date is on the agenda of the DFL on February 18.
Then the representatives of the 18 Bundesliga clubs come together and discuss how they can make a spectator comeback in the stadiums possible.
The first clubs have already taken a position on how spectators can safely return to the arenas.
Jan Lehmann, CFO of FSV Mainz, pushed the furthest forward.
“I think that people who have been vaccinated can be allowed back into the stadium if it is proven that they do not pose a risk of infection.
This of course also applies to other areas such as restaurants, cultural institutions and sports.
It's not about privileges, but about taking back hard restrictions, ”said Lehmann in an interview with“ Sport Bild ”.
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Augsburg's President Klaus Hofmann also has great hopes for the vaccinations.
"The thought that vaccinated people will be allowed back into the stadium at some point is legitimate," said Hofmann.
The discussion will certainly get louder when the number of people vaccinated increases: “At the moment there can be no exception for the Bundesliga.
On the way, I could imagine a regulation like in the USA at the Super Bowl that vaccinated people are allowed into the stadium.
Why not? "
Super Bowl as a model
The Super Bowl will take place in Florida next Sunday.
The game between the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Kansas City Chiefs has 22,000 fans inside the stadium.
This corresponds to a third of the Raymond James Stadium.
The NFL gave away 7,500 tickets to employees of the health and care system who have already been vaccinated.
The president of FC Bayern Munich, Herbert Hainer, also sees the vaccine as a door opener for the stadium gates.
“That can certainly be a way to bring our fans back to the stadium.
It is our greatest wish to be able to play in front of spectators again soon - but the top priority is and remains the health of the people, we have always said that ”, Hainer told“ Sportbild ”.
Therefore, it is still too early to make decisions: "First of all, we need more scientific knowledge about the effects on the pandemic with regard to vaccination success."
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Lehmann goes one step further and even gives a date for a possible return of the fans to the arenas.
"Assuming that the current measures to contain the corona pandemic are effective, we hope to see spectators again after Easter at the latest.
We see realistic chances of at least partial utilization of the Opel Arena. "
The growing number of those vaccinated and those who have already had the disease, as well as the currently falling infection rate, give hope: "In addition, we have proven hygiene concepts in the Bundesliga that have already proven themselves during the pandemic."