The corona virus has a firm grip on sport. It is still completely unclear when the major competitions will continue. An overview of the current developments.
The Bundesliga paused, the sport stopped. The reason is the corona virus, the spread of which is to be contained by this drastic measure. The t-online.de news blog contains all the important information about the latest developments. Large messages are handled separately.
Fan representative about ghost games: “Followers are ready to swallow this toad”
Sig Zelt from the ProFans organization sees the majority of football fans as positive about possible ghost games in the coronavirus pandemic. “It sounds absurd to go through nine game days in empty stadiums, but many supporters are still willing to swallow this toad,” the Alliance spokesman said in an interview with several newspapers (Wednesday). The fact that major events are now banned until at least August 31 encouraged people to understand that “it is a profound crisis.”
Most recently, the association “Fanszenen Deutschland” had spoken out vehemently against continuing the season without spectators. He “does not perceive this as a majority opinion,” said Zelt, supporter of Bundesliga club 1. FC Union Berlin. The fan organization “Our Curve” had put professional football under pressure before the resumption of the Bundesliga with ghost games and called for a rethink.
Söder: RKI has to give the “green light” for Bundesliga
According to Bavaria’s Prime Minister Markus Söder (CSU), the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) has to “give the green light” to restart the Bundesliga. “We need the expertise of the Robert Koch Institute,” said the 53-year-old in the ARD “Daily Topics”. “It must be clear ghost games, the group of people must be clearly controllable. It must also be ensured that nothing happens in front of the stadiums.”
A “blank check” for the clubs “according to the motto, no matter what happens, it will take place” will “of course not exist”. The concept of the German Football League for the restart is “of course under probation”, said Söder, the situation must then be observed “from match day to match day”. RKI Vice President Lars Schaade had previously expressed skepticism about the league plan to have football professionals constantly tested for the new corona virus.
Together with his North Rhine-Westphalian counterpart Armin Laschet (CDU), Söder brought Monday 9 May into play as a possible date for the resumption of the Bundesliga. The Federal Ministry of the Interior, on the other hand, believes that no specific date should yet be given. “The Federal Ministry of the Interior has no legal or health policy responsibility,” said Söder.
National player Rüdiger helps in Berlin
National soccer player Antonio Rüdiger has taken a special initiative to join the ranks of prominent sports stars who are socially involved in the corona crisis. The professional of the English top club FC Chelsea finances the boarding of the medical staff at some stations in his birth hospital, the Berlin Charité, for at least three months.
“Even though I now live in London, Berlin is still a very special city for me,” said Rüdiger: “When I have free time, I am still there a lot. I owe Berlin a lot and so I am happy to help out now . ” When the situation got worse in Berlin, he turned to the Charité to find out “how and where I can best support,” said the 27-year-old. At the same time, he was told that staffing the staff had “become relatively complicated” due to the closing of the canteens and the loss of other options. Rüdiger, who also participates in the “WeKickCorona” campaign, is therefore helping out in cooperation with a local caterer. The campaign started shortly before Easter.
FC Barcelona grants naming rights to Camp Nou
The Spanish football champion FC Barcelona has chosen an exemplary act of help with a highly symbolic character. The club of world star Lionel Messi and national goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen grants the naming rights to his Camp Nou stadium for the 2020/21 season for the first time. A corresponding decision by the club leadership around President Josep Bertomeu was announced on Tuesday.
Accordingly, the foundation of the association (Barca Foundation) should look for a name sponsor with whose funds the fight against the pandemic is to be supported both in Catalonia and internationally. The phrase “Camp Nou” should remain in the new name.
Berlin marathon in September must be canceled
The Berlin Marathon has to be canceled this year due to the Corona crisis. The Senate of the capital decided on Tuesday, according to information from the German Press Agency, to ban major events with more than 5000 participants until October 24. The marathon was to take place on September 27, last year 47,000 participants started.
Berlin is one of the fastest marathon routes. On September 16, 2018, Kenyan Eliud Kipchoge set the world record still valid today in 2:01:39 hours. Last year, Ethiopian Kenenisa Bekele was only two seconds short of improving this brand. In the wake of the Corona crisis, numerous other marathons had recently been canceled.
Media: Real Madrid wants to play in the mini-stadium in the sequel to the league
The Spanish football record champion Real Madrid apparently plans to play their remaining home games in the club’s own training stadium when the championship resumes. As several Spanish media reported, the club of 2014 world champion Toni Kroos has submitted an application to the league association LFP should the season continue as expected before empty ranks.
Mini grandstand instead of Bernabeu: Reals Estadio Alfredo di Stefano in Valdebebas can accommodate 6000 spectators. (Source: imago images)
According to this, the royalists want to play their ghost games in the 6000-seat Estadio Alfredo di Stefano in Valdebebas at the gates of the Spanish capital. This would also speed up the renovation work on the 81,044 Estadio Santiago Bernabeu in the city center.
No champion in women’s handball Bundesliga
Different to for men there will be no German champions in the broken handball Bundesliga of women (HBF) 2020. The HBF announced this. The decisive factor for the decision was that almost a third of the season had to be played at the time of the abandonment and that the second leg between second-placed SG BBM Bietigheim and leaders Borussia Dortmund was still pending. The association had canceled the season due to the corona crisis on March 18 after 18 of 26 match days.
League leaders Dortmund, however, get the only Champions League ticket for the coming season with a point advantage. The teams from Bietigheim and TuS Metzingen behind them qualify for the European Handball League (EHL).
DFB star Popp proposes joint European soccer championships for women and men
The rescheduling of the European Women’s Football Championship 2021 is still pending, but Alexandra Popp has brought an interesting idea into play. “My first thought was: let the European Championship take place in the same country with the men’s European Championship, to make a big deal out of it,” said the captain of the national soccer team.
However, the striker from series champion VfL Wolfsburg admits that such a co-tournament is “of course difficult” to implement at the upcoming pan-European final of the men. But in general, she believes that a big event together could benefit women’s football: “You could take a lot of fan scenery with you, a lot of emotions and attention.”
Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the European football association Uefa postponed the men’s European championship by one year to the summer of 2021 and also announced a new date for the women’s European championships in England. It is becoming apparent that the tournament will also take place a year later.
Probably a drop in salaries of over 30 percent in the Chinese Super League
The Chinese football association has proposed enormous reductions in salaries to clubs in the Super League at home. In order to limit the financial damage during the Corona crisis, the wages of players and coaches in the top three leagues are to be reduced by at least 30 percent. Chinese media reported this unanimously.
In the coming days, the clubs will give the association feedback on the proposed model, according to the People’s Daily. The wage cuts should not affect youth players and other club employees with a relatively low salary. Rather, the savings are expected to come mainly from the wages of some top players and top coaches, who have been attracted to China with huge salary packages in recent years.
The Brazilian Oscar alone should earn around 25 million euros a year at Shanghai SIPG. The start of the Super League was originally scheduled for February 22, but had to be postponed indefinitely after the virus broke out in the Far East. In the meantime, the teams have at least returned to training, and the season should now begin in late June or early July.
Fan organization puts pressure on Bundesliga
The fan organization “Our Curve” put professional football under pressure with ghost games before a resumption of the Bundesliga and called for a rethink. “We no longer want to discuss symptoms, but to finally talk about the disease and ways to improve football. Clubs and associations are now challenged to take and take binding steps to improve professional football,” said a statement on Tuesday. “In our view, acceptance of measures to end the current season cannot be achieved otherwise.”
“Our curve” is represented in the fan cultures group under the umbrella of the German Football League (DFL) and in the ad hoc group of fan institutions and associations related to Corona. The alliance is considered moderate and had previously avoided a clear statement about games without spectators. Last week “Fanszenen Deutschland” had spoken out against ghost games and also called for a cultural change in professional business.
US Golf Association checks Ryder Cup event without spectators
The Ryder Cup of golfers faces a ghostly backdrop. As the US association PGA of America confirmed on Monday evening, it is currently being examined whether the most important team competition in the world can be held without spectators. The biennial prestige duel between the best golfers in the United States and Europe is scheduled for September 25-27 in the US state of Wisconsin.
The Ryder Cup is the highlight of the golf calendar for fans, the atmosphere is comparable to that in a football stadium. “It’s hard to imagine a Ryder Cup without fans,” said PGA chief Seth Waugh to New York radio station WFAN: “We have started to talk about whether we can at least create a virtual fan experience. We will try to be as creative as possible. “
In order to make reading easier and reduce loading times, the editors start the news blog again at this point. You can find messages before April 21 in the previous news blogs here and here read up.
– .
