On this Thursday, the Prime Ministers will decide in a video conference with the Executive Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) and the future Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) which new measures to initiate because of the many Covid 19 infections.

This will also include restrictions on professional sports.

Christopher Meltzer

Sports correspondent in Munich.

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The Prime Ministers of Bavaria and Saxony, Markus Söder (CSU) and Michael Kretschmer (CDU), are calling for football games without spectators in the stands. "When Christmas markets are closed, it is not right to have full stadiums," said Söder, who wants to propose an exclusion of fans by the end of the year. Kretschmer, who ordered so-called ghost games in his federal state more than a week ago, said: "One can assume that the Bundesliga should continue to play without spectators."

However, it is considered rather unlikely that these demands will be implemented in all federal states. In a first catalog of rules published by the Hessian State Chancellery, outdoor sports events from 3000 seats are to be limited to 25 percent of the capacity. The North Rhine-Westphalian Prime Minister Hendrik Wüst said that the spectator capacity in stadiums will be "significantly reduced". He did not give a specific number.

On the day before the federal-state conference, Borussia Dortmund announced that the 67,000 tickets that had been sold for the Bundesliga game on Saturday against FC Bayern (6.30 p.m. / in the FAZ live ticker for the Bundesliga and on Sky), be canceled. But that does not mean that the duel will take place without spectators. As soon as a decision has been made for North Rhine-Westphalia, there will be a new advance sale, according to the association.

"The Bundesliga is not a pandemic driver - every health department confirms that," said BVB managing director Hans-Joachim Watzke in a "Sky" interview.

“But to be fair, it must be said that we have to pay tribute to the pandemic situation.

We cannot disconnect from that.

Significantly fewer viewers - that takes away a bit of that special feeling.

But it is required correctly and factually. "

And what about the professional sport that is played in halls?

In the discussions of the past few days he has hardly been mentioned.

The Hessian catalog of rules states that indoor events for more than 250 people are subject to approval by the health authorities.