Many people want the ball to roll again in the Bundesliga – as quickly as possible. But would that really be correct in the middle of the corona crisis?
German professional football is ready to continue the season and eagerly awaits the decisive signal from politics. “It is not up to us to set a start date,” said DFL boss Christian Seifert on Thursday after the general assembly of the 36 first and second division teams. “If it were May 9th, we would be ready. If it will be any day after, we will be ready,” announced the managing director of the German Football League.
The majority of those responsible for the clubs have responded positively to the DFL’s concept of readmission.
Vice Chancellor Scholz is for Bundesliga start
And while Vice Chancellor Olaf Scholz from the SPD would also be pleased, “if it’s in the second half of May” SPD health politician Karl Lauterbach criticized this plan sharply: “We have to convey the message to the young people: keep your distance, wear a face mask, the virus is dangerous. All three messages are countered by a Bundesliga start.”
It is a dilemma: the football clubs have to play because they need the income from the TV contracts to survive. But is that enough to be able to override all other applicable rules?
Should the Bundesliga really start again in May?
Florian Wichert
Deputy Editor in Chief
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Yes, the DFL and politics must now create the conditions for this
The Bundesliga final in May is usually about the championship, relegation, TV money and jobs. However, there has never been more at stake than this year. This time, because of the Corona crisis, the clubs are concerned about their existence, ALL jobs and the lifestyle of millions of fans.
Therefore, the DFL and politics must create the conditions for a continuation in May.
1. You have to guarantee occupational safety and not just – as suggested in the DFL concept – send a single positive player to quarantine, but quite simply the whole team.
2. You have to make sure that the approximately 25,000 Corona tests estimated for the Bundesliga do not endanger patient care in Germany by the end of the season – which should not be a problem either, since the laboratories are currently far from being busy with around 730,000 tests per week.
3. You must ensure that all games are made freely accessible on TV so that fans do not watch in larger groups and the risk of infection increases. The ARD is apparently ready to talk.
In times of self-isolation, the whole German population would benefit from it.
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Robert Hiersemann
Head of football and sports
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Contraindications
No, the Bundesliga start could be expensive for all of us
I love football and I miss it. But there are things in life that are more important. And that includes the health of the people and the solidarity of the population associated with them. That is exactly why it would be a fatal mistake if the Bundesliga started again in May.
On the one hand, around 25,000 corona tests would probably have to be used to keep the first and second league games running, which would be much better off in hospitals, nursing homes and schools.
On the other hand, there would be a great risk that the pandemic would even accelerate due to the restart. “The stadiums will become a potential target for fans who want to support their team. That would be devastating,” said Jörg Radek, the deputy federal chairman of the police union, recently in the “FAS”. Because crowds of people must also be avoided outside the stadiums.
And it would also be wrong to override the current distance regulations for our football professionals during the games. Because that would endanger the athletes themselves and also show 80 million Germans that a small, elitist part of them doesn’t have to stick to everything. The existing rules would blur. And in the end, it could all cost us dearly. It would be a game with fire.
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Florian Wichert (Deputy Editor-in-Chief at t-online.de) and Robert Hiersemann (Head of Football and Sport) comment on current football topics every week in the “duel of the week”.
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