Corona crisis: Maradona jersey brought 55,000 euros at auction

At an auction in aid of victims of the Corona pandemic, a shirt by Argentina’s football icon Diego Maradona raised 55,000 euros. The shirt was donated by ex-footballer Ciro Ferrara, who played with Maradona at SSC Napoli in the 1980s and 1990s.

“We won another game, Ciro Ferrara,” Maradona wrote on Facebook. “Possibly the most important thing. We won it together, as we have always done …” According to Ferrara, the auction raised a total of 85,000 euros. In addition to the Maradona shirt, memorabilia were auctioned by 26 other football players.

Following the announcement by the Italian government that various corona restrictions have been relaxed, the clubs of the Series A at the May 18 start training again. Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte announced on Sunday evening that training in professional team sports would be allowed again from this date. Serie A has been paused since March 9th.

Twelve game days are still outstanding in Italy’s top football division. A restart of the league in June might be possible. In individual sports, athletes could start training again from May 4.

Italy is particularly hard hit by the pandemic. Since February, more than 26,600 corona deaths have been registered. In total, civil defense counted almost 200,000 people who had been officially infected with the Sars CoV-2 pathogen.

Spain’s health minister closed the rapid restart Primera Division out. “It would be ruthless to say now that professional football will be back before summer,” said Salvador Illa on Sunday. Football in Spain has been dormant since March 12 due to the corona virus crisis. The country is particularly hard hit by the pandemic with more than 22,000 deaths.

The health minister dampened expectations that the professionals could be tested daily, as requested by the league. “The tests have to be made available to the regional authorities, regardless of the type of test. And it will be up to you to decide. We have to have a common strategy. We all have to pull in the same direction, ”said Illa.

The basketball players from the North American professional league NBA may according to media reports under certain circumstances back to the soon Training facilities of their clubs. If the official regulations of the local governments do not prohibit it, the professionals can complete individual units there on a voluntary basis from Friday, the reported AP and ESPN. Team trainings are still not allowed in the Corona crisis. For teams from cities in which the so-called “stay-at-home orders” still apply, alternative arrangements are reported to be found.

The NBA has been interrupting its season for almost seven weeks. Commissioner Adam Silver had repeatedly stressed that a decision could not be taken until May at the earliest to end the season. There is currently no fixed date when it should be decided.

So now: Also in Tajikistan the Soccer–season interrupted. According to the national association, the season will be suspended until May 10th after the games scheduled for Sunday. This is in line with government action to prevent the virus from spreading, the statement said.

At the beginning of April the season in the Central Asian country started with games without spectators. Tajikistan was one of the few countries in which football is still played – besides Belarus, Turkmenistan, Nicaragua and Burundi. So far there are no coronavirus infected people in Tajikistan, according to official information.

The German police union (GdP) warned of possible fan gatherings during ghost games in the Bundesliga. “Ghost games are a danger, even if the organizer does everything in the stadium to ensure that hygiene regulations are observed in order to keep the risk of infection as low as possible,” said GdP Vice Jörg Radek der Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung. It was a good right for the German Football League (DFL) to work out a plan for the restart of the season, “but it doesn’t seem to take all aspects into account,” said Radek. It may be possible to control what is happening in the stadium, the unionist said. “That doesn’t apply to the public space in front of it. The stadiums become a potential target for fans who want to support their team. That would be devastating. Large crowds of people outside the stadium gates must not occur during this pandemic. Not only is that forbidden, it would be irresponsible, ”said Radek. If fans violate the requirements of the corona pandemic, the police must intervene “in the sense of compliance with security and order”.

The Premier League club, Chelsea, will not call for a partial cut in their salary at the time, “at that point the men’s first team will not make a financial contribution to the club. Instead, the board has directed the team to focus their efforts on continuing to support other charitable causes, ”the statement said. Talks with the players would continue.

At Chelsea’s league rival Aston Villa, on the other hand, players, coaching staff and management have agreed on a deferral of 25 percent of their next four monthly salaries. Southampton, Watford, Sheffield United and West Ham had already taken similar steps.

Jörg Schmadtke, Head of Sports at VfL Wolfsburg, advocates fundamental changes in professional football after the Corona crisis. “We will have to think about this branch again in principle. Whether all developments of the last few years still make sense, ”said the 56-year-old in the current episode of the podcast The sixteen. In a conversation with FC St. Pauli’s Technical Director, Ewald Lienen, and TV journalist Michael Born, Schmadtke stated: “We have to talk about transfer fees. We need to talk about adviser payments. We have to talk about salaries. “

The German Minister of Labor Hubertus Heil (SPD) spoke out against the requirement to wear a mask if the Bundesliga was to be restarted. “I don’t think games with masks are imaginable,” said Heil der Picture on Sunday and added: “In talks with the German Football League, constructive work is currently being carried out on other practical solutions.” mirror reports that the Department of Labor is considering letting professionals play with face masks to protect against the corona virus. A spokesman for the ministry had said that there was an internal paper on the hygiene concept of the German Football League (DFL) and pointed out that it was only a first draft at work level. Heil now pointed out that professional soccer players and club employees were also employees: “This is why occupational safety applies to them too.” The DFL’s ideas “therefore require careful examination”. His ministry was solely responsible for assessing occupational health and safety when the league was restarted.

The English Premier League is set to continue on June 8, according to The Times newspaper. Those responsible had already submitted a concept for the resumption to the government last week, it said. According to this, the remaining 92 games are to be played in “approved stadiums” – a maximum of 400 people are to be admitted. The Premier League has ceased to play since March 13 due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Liverpool are still missing two victories for the first championship title in 30 years.

Spanish league boss Javier Tebas warned the football clubs that despite the Corona pandemic, they will have to play again as soon as the authorities allow it. If refused, sanctions would follow. “Against such a club, the Spanish football association RFER would initiate disciplinary proceedings, cut three points for not appearing, and in the end he would be able to go home,” the newspaper quoted Sports Tebas on Saturday.

Tebas further refuses to cancel the season completely due to Corona. La Liga will lose a billion euros if the season is finally canceled. If played without a spectator, 350 million euros would still be lost. When and under what conditions the game can be resumed is currently a heated debate in football enthusiastic Spain. One only agrees that it could only be ghost games without spectators.

After an almost two-month football break due to the Corona crisis, the President of Lazio Rome has called for the early resumption of play in Italian Serie A. Claudio Lotito mentioned above all financial and psychological reasons. “Football in Italy is a big industry and guarantees the state treasury 1.2 billion euros in tax dollars,” said Lotito.

Other sports and the Italian Olympic Committee would also benefit from a restart of the league, the entrepreneur told TV station Rai 3. “The CONI is financed with 460 million euros, football generated billions of euros in earnings.”

In addition, the president of the second in the table, one point behind Juventus Turin, also reminded of the social role. “Football has huge social value, and our history, the history of the Romans, is characterized by bread and games.” He thought that this aspect should be taken into account.

According to a survey, the Germans sometimes react with incomprehension to the plans of the German Football League (DFL) to continue the season. According to this, 90 percent of those questioned are in favor of sending the entire team in quarantine for 14 days in the event of coronavirus infections from professionals. This was the result of a representative survey by infratest dimap on behalf of ARD–Sports show. According to the DFL plans, the interrupted season should continue with ghost games in May. It is intended to only quarantine the respective player in the event of possible infections.

Usually, the recommendation is that in the event of infection with the coronavirus, all contact persons of the person concerned should be quarantined for 14 days. The majority of the DFL plan for constant checks on football professionals was also rejected. For example, 61 percent of those surveyed believed that the effort required to carry out regular team tests to prevent infections was not justified. 34 percent, on the other hand, saw this as justified. This aspect had already triggered criticism in the past few days.

After postponing the Olympic Games in Tokyo by one year and canceling the European Athletics Championships in Paris and other international events due to the corona pandemic, Lukas Weißhaidinger is hoping for a mini-meeting in Schwechat in May. The third discus World Cup is training again in the usual environment at BSFZ Südstadt, but when the season will start is currently questionable.

“Originally we wanted to start at the beginning of May, now it will be in the middle of May. Luki’s home meeting in Taufkirchen has been canceled. We are currently assuming that we will organize a meeting with three starters, including Luki. For example in Schwechat. That should be possible in mid-May, “said coach Gregor Högler.

In an open letter, the organizers of the Linz Marathon, which was canceled this year due to the corona pandemic, asked at least for a partial waiver of the reimbursement of the entry fee. The letter said that they had made it possible to reimburse the already paid entry fees, at the same time asking the running family for help and thanking them for their solidarity.

“A large part of the organizational costs have already been incurred, which means that we will have to carry a minus in the budget next year. That won’t bring us down, but it doesn’t exactly make a dynamic restart easier. Therefore we would be happy if this Backpack will be a little easier thanks to your accommodation, “says the letter.

The runners concerned should be informed by e-mail in the coming week about the return of the entry fees.

Ajax Amsterdam, however, is set as number one with a view to entering the Champions League. The club was tied with AZ Alkmaar at the top of the table, but had the better goal difference. AZ, however, has the chance to still qualify for the European premier class. According to the current standings Feyenoord Rotterdam, PSV Eindhoven and Willem II Tilburg are planned as further European Cup participants. There are no relegations and promoters.
The decision meant a serious financial blow to professional football, the association emphasized. The consequences were discussed with the clubs on Friday. Prime Minister Mark Rutte had banned major events such as professional football until September 1.

In the quest for a low-risk restart of the German soccer Bundesliga, a curious proposal causes discussions. According to “Spiegel” information, the Federal Ministry of Labor is examining whether professionals can use face masks to protect against the corona virus. This emerged from a paper from the Ministry in response to the hygiene concept of the German Football League (DFL), as the news magazine reported on Friday. On request, a ministry spokesman confirmed that such a paper existed, but pointed out that it was only a first draft at the working level.
According to this, players and referees should wear mouth-nose protection according to medical standards during the games. These should not slip during the game, otherwise the game must be interrupted immediately. There should also be an interruption every 15 minutes so that the masks could be replaced.
Initial reactions to this suggestion did not sound very enthusiastic. “A sprint with a mask may be possible, but not three or four. It is difficult with the air supply. That would be out of the question for football, ”commented Leipzig Sports Director Markus Krösche. Ulf Dittmer, Director of the Institute of Virology in Essen, commented similarly critically: “You cannot do long sports with an infection-proof mouthguard. Since they have clear breathing restrictions. And another mouthguard that only hangs loosely in front of the face and may be lost in duels doesn’t help. ”

The Austrian table tennis Bundesliga announced on Friday due to the coronavirus pandemic that the championship was abandoned for men and women. No championship titles will be awarded, no club will relegate, the leagues will be increased for the coming season. In the coming season, the top and bottom play-offs of the 1st and 2nd Bundesliga will be played with ten clubs instead of the previous eight. “With this solution, the Bundesliga and ÖTTV officials have impressively demonstrated that we are a real family in tough times. We fight for every club – nobody is left behind. I am proud of this solution and look forward to a hopefully virus-free Bundesliga season 2020/21, ”said Bundesliga chairman Frank Mair. The 2019/20 season will be the first since 1956 for men and 1961 for women, in which no champion has been chosen.

The International Olympic Committee has made another $ 10.3 million available to the national associations. The IOC announced on Friday. The funds are intended to cover the costs of the National Olympic Committees, which arose from the postponement of the Summer Games to the next year due to the coronavirus pandemic. The associations can individually request the payment of aid. The IOC has now provided a total of $ 57 million in support.
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