Progress on Bundesliga resumption continues but controversy remains
The German football league (DFL) is continuing to edge towards the resumption of the Bundesliga amid the coronavirus crisis but a return to action is not without controversy.
Chancellor Angela Merkel will host a teleconference with state premiers on Thursday with the Bundesliga on the agenda – albeit modestly ranked on the list of priorities.
But a positive outcome from that meeting could pave the way for football, suspended since the middle of March, to resume in Germany some time in May.
According to the Rheinischen Post paper on Wednesday, sports ministers across the country have backed plans from the DFL to play again in light of the potentially huge financial losses clubs could otherwise face.
The labour ministry has also given its blessing, the RedaktionsNetzwerks Deutschland corporate newsroom reported, in terms of suitable protection at work being implemented.
That is despite disputed plans to quarantine only individuals who become infected rather than whole teams – which would immediately throw the revised fixture list into chaos.
“If there is a case after a Bundesliga game then both teams should have to go into quarantine,” virology professor Ulrike Protzer told dpa.
Protzer, who is on the advisory council to the Bavarian government, however also believes matches could take place on the basis of individual isolation.
“But you have to be ready to act accordingly if something happens,” she said. “With team sports there is definitely a higher risk than with individual sports.
“There could be infections – we have to put up with that. We will not be completely rid of the virus.”
Resuming the Bundesliga behind closed doors is “quite doable”, according to Protzer. “The clubs also have extreme financial pressure. The risk of infection is very low. It will not hit any person who is now currently at risk of becoming more seriously ill.”
The DFL produced a 41-page concept for a return to play which included frequent tests for players who might pick up the coronavirus.
Only 22 per cent of those asked in a YouGov survey commissioned by dpa approve of using 20,000 coronavirus tests for those involved in completing the season with 58 per cent against.
The DFL insists neither the tests themselves or the necessary laboratory capacity to analyse them would impact on the availability to high risk groups or key workers.
Only 34 per cent back the closed door game plan overall with 46 per cent opposing it.
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The league and several club bosses maintain this is the only way to avoid financial disaster by fulfilling television contracts worth hundreds of millions of dollars. Kicker magazine has previously reported 13 of the 36 teams in the top two divisions could be bankrupt by June if the season is not finished.
Football in the Netherlands has been scrapped for the season by the Dutch federation while the French government effectively ended the current campaign on Tuesday by banning major events until September.
European governing body UEFA has asked all suspended leagues to provide an update on plans to resume by May 25 or give reasons explaining why the season must be cancelled. (dpa)
