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Germany’s plans to resume soccer competitions on May 16 suffered an early setback after its entire squad of second-tier Dynamo Dresden were quarantined for two weeks after discovering two new infections with the Coronavirus.
The German club announced on its website that tests that were submitted to team members on Friday revealed two positive cases and ordered health authorities to quarantine the entire team.
“After analyzing the situation, the Dresden health authorities … today, Saturday, they put the entire team, including technical and administrative staff, in quarantine for two weeks in their homes,” said Dinamo Dresden.
“Due to quarantine measures, the club will not be able to travel to Lower Saxony to play the match scheduled for May 26.”
Dinamo Dresden was supposed to play Hannover next Sunday in its first match after the second division resumed after a halt caused by the outbreak of the Corunna virus.
“In the past few weeks, we have made tremendous efforts in terms of personnel and logistics to strictly implement all medical and health measures,” said Ralph Minge, director of Dynamo Dresden.
“We are in contact with the responsible health authorities and the German Football Association to coordinate the next steps. The reality is that we cannot practice or participate in any game for the next 14 days.”
The German League announced last week that it would resume its activities on May 16 after obtaining the green light from the government.
The league developed detailed rules and guidelines for training and games to reduce the risk of infection, including tests to detect the virus.
But how to deal with the detection of positive cases beyond the league’s control because German law states that the treatment of any case is in the hands of the health authorities only.
Christian Schaeffert, executive director of the League, told television channel “CDF” that the goal remains to complete the season.
“We have said from the beginning that we are ready for such matters,” Scheffert said. “If the 14-day quarantine period has already started, we have to deal with that next week in the spirit of the game plan.”
“Despite this, this does not currently frustrate our current schedule. The German League has been working on this for a long time, and we have consistently emphasized that the local health authorities will make their decisions with each case on each team.”
“In the second division, where there are still 81 games remaining, it will not be possible to play two games for the Dynamo Dresden team at this time, but we will not change our goal at the end of the season.”
The German Bundesliga has been stagnant since mid-March, due to a stalemate in the Corunna virus, which has infected football worldwide. Other leagues are likely to closely monitor the resumption of matches in Germany.
