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A positive test could suddenly end the season.
Vienna The continuation of the Bundesliga football season is likely to depend on a question: what happens if a player tests positive for the crown virus? The Ministry of Health requests a quarantine for all “contact persons”, that is, the entire team, but also for the opposing team, if the games are tested positively. If this happens, the league would face a possible additional interruption or the definitive end of the season, along with the considerable additional costs incurred for crown tests and games without an audience. “The point is very important to us,” said Bundesliga CEO Christian Ebenbauer. “There would always be this Damocles sword there.”
In the concept he presented to the authorities, the test only provided quarantine for the affected player and immediate evidence for his direct contacts if the test was positive. The document, which is based, inter alia, on a tight-knit schedule of regular PCR tests, is now due for review by the end of next week. “There is a certain disappointment behind this. You have to recover,” Ebenbauer said after the unpleasant responses he received from the Ministry of Health on Thursday. “We certainly will not give up. There are new parameters and we are making a new beginning. “
Race against time
After all, the agency approved test groups of up to five people whose samples can be analyzed together, which would mean a massive cost reduction. “It is not clear if we intend to do this as often,” said Ebenbauer. Because, above all, there is the question of the group of people for a possible quarantine. Team training is not allowed until May 15, according to Ebenbauer, the season will certainly not end in June. If the next new regulation from Health Minister Rudolf Anschober (Greens) can’t fully train in mid-May, it could be too late for the league. “Time is currently running through your fingers,” said Ebenbauer. The time window for the upcoming season should also be carefully considered. After all, there is hope that general conditions will improve by then.
The 2019/20 season will continue in late May at the earliest. Extending the season until July would open more questions, such as contracts and loan contracts for players expiring on June 30, or pre-contracts for players with new clubs. Two weeks ago, Ebenbauer had described the possibility of a continuation of the league as great. Confidence has also declined among 44-year-old Viennese after the first official appointment with the Ministry of Health, the latest decisive decision in the current situation, on Thursday night.
The Bundesliga general assembly will meet next Thursday, and will also address Ried and Klagenfurt’s request to increase the top division from 12 to 14 teams. (ag.)
(“Die Presse”, print edition, May 2, 2020)
