The coronavirus lockdown has hit the sports fraternity hard. However, this will surely come as a piece of relief news for many. Rejoice, football lovers, the German football league Bundesliga is all set to resume the season from May. With maximum countries around the world are under lockdown amid the ongoing coronavirus outbreak, Christian Seifert, the CEO of the Bundesliga, has announced that play will resume in Germany’s top two divisions at the start of May.
Seifert confirmed New York Times by stating, “We are part of the culture in the country, people long to get back a short piece of normal life, and that could mean the Bundesliga plays again.”
“This is why we have to play our role here, and that means to support the government and to talk with the government about when we will be able to play again. The sooner we are finished, the more flexibility we can provide to the European football landscape,” he added.
The CEO said that the league has projected around 240 essential personnel required to put on a specific league game, from players, coaching staff, officiating crew, medical staff and more.
Bundesliga has set up a task force to create a logistical plan for putting on games safely as well as hygiene plan is also being developed to allow for repeated congregating during training and matches and also preparing a plan for if anyone involved tests coronavirus positive.
Entry for the fans is restricted; as a result, all matches are set to be played behind closed doors.
Abandoning the season could put five Bundesliga clubs in serious financial distress. At the same time, half the teams in the second tier would be ‘very much in danger to file for bankruptcy’ Seifert suggested.
The German football league will have millions of eyes affixed to their screens watching their players ply their trade in these ‘ghosts games’.
Meanwhile, Germany ranks fourth in the highest number of coronavirus cases in the world; however, the death rate is relatively low there.
