The Bundesliga has been granted permission to become the first of Europe’s major leagues to resume playing after the coronavirus pandemic, with Angela Merkel confirming on Wednesday that matches will go ahead behind closed doors, beginning on May 15th.
A meeting involving the German chancellor and state premiers gave the green light for the league’s governing body, the DFL, to schedule the restart of the season from Friday week. A meeting between the 36 clubs in the top two divisions will be held on Thursday via video link to confirm the details.
Bayern Munich’s chief executive, Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, is keen to get started as soon as possible. His side are four points clear of Borussia Dortmund at the top of the table with nine matches to play.
“We are now looking forward to resuming play, ideally from mid-May. This ensures that the sporting decisions are made on the pitch and not in the boardroom,” Rummenigge said. “I would like to expressly thank the DFL and the medicine task force for the excellent organisational and medical plans. I appeal to everyone involved to follow the guidelines in these plans, which are the basis for resuming play, in an exemplary and disciplined manner.”
Christian Seifert, the managing director of the German Football League (DFL), said: “Today’s decision is good news for the Bundesliga and the 2nd Bundesliga. It is associated with a great responsibility for the clubs and their employees to implement the medical and organisational requirements in a disciplined manner.
“Games behind closed doors are not an ideal solution for anyone. In a crisis threatening the very existence of some clubs, however, it is the only way to keep the leagues in their current form. On this day, I would like to thank the political decision-makers from the federal and state governments for their trust.”
Clubs in Germany have been training for a month amid Covid-19 testing and DFL has been keen to finish the season by the end of June, when contracts expire. Players will continue to be tested and teams will have to spend time in quarantine before games can restart.
The push to resume has not been universally welcomed, with Werder Bremen understood to have been among those clubs in opposition given doubts whether they will be allowed to play matches at its Weserstadion after the local government insisted it would not let them until the pandemic is over.
The DFL said on Monday that there had been 10 positive tests for coronavirus among the top two tiers, adding that 1,724 tests were carried out over two rounds among players and staff. Last Friday Cologne reported three positive cases.
This week Salomon Kalou has been suspended “with immediate effect” by his club Hertha Berlin after posting a video on Facebook of him breaking physical distancing rules with his teammates.
“Many industries are now slowly starting up again in compliance with strict rules, and this applies to professional football too,” said Borussia Dortmund’s chief executive, Hans-Joachim Watzke.
“In this context, we at Borussia Dortmund are aware we have a great responsibility. We will – in the knowledge there can be no guarantees – do everything in our power to ensure the highest possible degree of safety in order to prevent any new infections among the players and their families.”
Domestic matches in both Croatia and Serbia are set to resume on May 30th behind closed doors, subject to government approval. – Guardian
