Bundesliga football matches will take place largely behind closed doors until at least the end of October due to the coronavirus pandemic, politicians resolved at a meeting yesterday.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel and state premiers agreed a working group would look into how fans could return to sporting events over the next two months.
“The coronavirus is again fully in Germany and therefore we must position ourselves in this situation,” Bavarian premier Markus Soeder said after a five-hour meeting.
It is “not sensible to with fans in September,” he added. “It is the wrong signal with an increasing number of infections.”
Mass events which cannot maintain hygiene rules and implement contact tracing are to remain banned until at least the end of December 2020.
It is not immediately clear what impact yesterday’s decision has on allowing a few hundred fans into matches as rules vary from state and state.
Professional clubs not only in football but handball, basketball and ice hockey are heavily impacted, as are other sports which rely on fans attending for income.
The German ice hockey league (DEL) said it would discuss the resolution internally and consult with clubs.
The ban on gatherings would also apply to events such as concerts and festivals.
Another potential problem for football is a rule from October 1 requiring those entering the country from a designated risk zone to have a five-day quarantine period before being tested.
This could severely impact clubs and players who travel across the continent. Ukraine, due to host Joachim Loew’s Germany on October 10 in the Nations League, is currently deemed a high-risk country by the Robert Koch Institute.
Top-flight and second division football clubs concluded the 2019/20 season behind closed doors to meet vital television contracts and face huge losses should fans not be allowed to return this term.
“We would get through it, we have credit lines,” Cologne chief executive Alexander Wehrle told the Koelner Stadt-Anzeiger about a potential season without fans. “It’s our responsibility to plan for this eventuality and be prepared.”
Wehrle said Cologne make around 1.8mn euros (2.1mn dollars) per Bundesliga game. “You have just have to multiply that by 17 then you have the amount,” he said of the cost of the worst-case scenario.
Exceptions to the ban on gatherings has not been made for regions with extremely low numbers of infection.
The German football league (DFL), together with the governing body DFB, on Wednesday published a proposed updated hygiene concept for the coming season for the 36 clubs in the top-flight Bundesliga and second division.
Measures to be approved at a September 3 meeting include personalized tickets.
But whether this will be enough to permit the admission of a large number of fans to stadiums sooner rather than later, in light of the guidelines agreed by politicians, is not certain.
The Bundesliga is due to begin September 18, the handball season October 1 while ice hockey and basketball want to start their new campaigns in November.
“Health has the highest priority,” said Hertha Berlin managing director Michael Preetz said. “That also applies to the discussion about allowing fans back in.”
However, he also said it was “our task” to prepare for fans being readmitted “in whatever steps and timeframe.”
from Gulf Times https://ift.tt/3b1pW8s
Comments
Post a Comment