[ad_1]
The Austrian national soccer league is about to start again: clubs can start training again from Friday, the championship will continue in early June, all games take place as ghost games.
Relaxation already allowed for individual sports is now also being used in team sports. In Austria this mainly affects professional football. There, the distance between individual athletes can now be less than two meters.
Say: Ball duels are allowed again. However, the clubs or their doctors must first demonstrate that all participants tested negative. Team training (from Friday, May 15) and subsequent competitions are possible again.
Health checks before each training and competition session are mandatory. There are also strict hygiene rules. However: if there is a positive case of Covid in one of the Bundesliga clubs, this person should be quarantined (and treated) at home, but not the entire team. Health Minister Rudolf Anschober justified this at a press conference in Vienna on Tuesday by the fact that (professional) football clubs are very special groups of people and a special medical check-up. And: “Only those who have proven negative tests are allowed in the field.”
The Bundesliga is also the pilot for this approach to amateur sports, Anschober said: “The Bundesliga can continue.” As for the basic requirements, Anschober said: “We have the virus largely under control in Austria.” There are fewer new infections than healthy people every day. A safe and gradual opening also for sports is possible again.
SN / APA / HERBERT PFARRHOFER
Austrian Vienna Sports Director Peter Stöger, Health Minister Rudof Anschober (Greens), Vice Chancellor Werner Kogler (Greens), ÖFB President Leo Windtner and Board Member of the Football Bundesliga Christian Ebenbauer on Tuesday May 12, 2020, at a press conference on the subject “Prospects for team sports” at the Ministry of Social Affairs in Vienna.
“We have a clear course, we want to continue with a firm hand,” Anschober said. The first opening step on April 14 had no longer had any negative effects.
Football should not fall into the hole in the crown.
ÖFB President Leo Windtner said: “The ban on entering sports fields really hurt us.” But all athletes have shown great discipline. Windtner: “The Bundesliga is the flagship of football in Austria.” What is happening now with this flagship can be seen as a role model not only for sport, but for society in general. Soccer can return to normality step by step. “What it is not supposed to do is that we have to talk about a ‘crown hole’.”
Christian Ebenbauer, CEO of the Bundesliga, said: “We have created framework conditions to be able to challenge the virus.” Now the ball is in the clubs, how can it roll again? According to Ebenbauer, a framework calendar for the organization of the remaining ten Bundesliga rounds has not yet been drawn up. The Bundesliga will create and decide on Wednesday (May 13).
If the league plays in the regular mode (qualifying group on Saturday, master group on Sunday), the championship operation will continue on 6/7. June go. There are eight weekends available until the end of July, with ten rounds remaining, two rounds on Tuesday / Wednesday would also have to be scheduled. After the end of the Bundesliga, three games of the Europa League tie continue. The first competition game of the spring season should be the cup final between Red Bull Salzburg and second division Austria Lustenau before the league is restarted.
How about the second division?
Keywords of the second division: the continuation of the second highest division is not excluded, in which there are still eleven pending rounds. So far, of the 16 clubs, only Cup finalist Austria Lustenau has been allowed to train in small groups, that could change now. “If the requirements of the prevention concept are met, then yes,” Ebenbauer said of possible team training for second division teams starting Friday.
Austria-Vienna board member Peter Stöger, representing the Bundesliga clubs, said: “It is clear to us that we have a great responsibility to this concept. We could have a pioneering role and we will do it justice. The measures of health prevention are in anyway in our daily work. Players know that their bodies are their capital. “
Amateur kickers can train again
BTW: even free kickers can train with the ball again on Friday. Because the prohibition to enter sports facilities and team sports outdoors is lifted. However, a 2 meter distance rule still applies in amateur and popular sports. Games and physical contact training are not yet possible.
