A return to everyday life in the Bundesliga is a long way off for BVB boss Watzke. Rather, the season should end with games without spectators. However, the state would not be responsible for the financial damage.
Hans-Joachim Watzke does not expect games to be played with spectators this season in the Bundesliga. “We will not see a normal football game for a very long time. If we play again this season it will be ghost games. Nobody in the Bundesliga still assumes that we will still have games with spectators,” said the managing director of Borussia Dortmund in a special edition of the ARD “Sports Show” on the effects of the Sars-CoV-2 pandemic on football.
Like DFB general secretary Friedrich Curtius, Watzke assumes that the European Football Union (Uefa) will propose on Tuesday to postpone the pan-European European championship scheduled for this summer (June 12 to July 12). “I think that’s the way it is. I hope so,” said Watzke. Curtius, who joined the show and, like Watzke, attended a video conference on Tuesday, said: “I cannot imagine that the opening game will take place in Rome on June 12th. I expect the euro to be relocated.”
The international game of the German national team on March 26 in Spain will probably not take place, said Curtius. The official confirmation from Spain was still pending. According to information from the ZDF, the Uefa apparently wants to propose an EM postponement on Tuesday. The European umbrella organization wanted to recommend this first to the national leagues and the European Club Association (ECA) and then later to all national European football associations. This would give the Bundesliga and the other national European leagues, which initially stopped their game, a space for a possible continuation of their season at a later date.
The German Football League suspended play in the Bundesliga and the 2nd division on Friday until April 2. Watzke could have imagined pulling out the district derby against FC Schalke 04 as a ghost game last Saturday. “If we had played the derby without spectators, there would have been about 80 people in the stadium. It was a matter of weighing up interests.”
NRW Prime Minister Armin Laschet appealed to football to make a contribution to the crisis like everyone else, but sees the economic importance of sport as well as the economic side, the jobs associated with professional business and the needs of amateur sport. “Football is essential for the cohesion of our society,” said Laschet. No one can currently predict “when we will return to normal,” he said.
Watzke made it clear that he was not interested in requesting help from the taxpayer if he expected to lose revenue in the event of a long game break. “Nobody from the professional business cries out for the state,” emphasized Watzke. Large clubs such as FC Bayern Munich or BVB would master the crisis because they had sufficient financial cushion. However, the crisis could have fatal effects on small clubs, especially in the amateur sector. Even a voluntary waiver of wages from well-earning football professionals did not rule out Watzke as a solidary contribution. “It could be an issue, but I’m not so confident about that.”
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