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If the measures work, it could provide a template for other sports to get going again. If they don’t, then questions will be asked as to why football returned so soon.
Philipp Köster, editor-in-chief of the football publication ’11 Freunde ‘, puts it more clearly: German football is on probation.
“This is an experiment with an unknown result,” Köster told CNN’s Fred Pleitgen.
“In fact, it could happen that we watch two or more weeks of football and then everything is canceled […] if there are many infections or serious infections. “
New image of soccer
Germany’s top tier division regularly attracts an average of 43,300 people in each game, but no more than 322 will be able to attend matches until the end of the season, with matches to be played behind closed doors.
The few chosen to attend the games will be divided into three different areas: the exterior of the stadium and the interior, as well as the stands.
Only 98 people (including players, coaches, and referees) will be allowed around the field of play, with 115 more in the stands (including journalists, hygiene personnel, and emergency services) and 109 more outside that (consisting mainly of security).
A schedule will limit who can enter the stadium at any time, including staggered arrival of teams around 90 minutes before the start.
“The games will feel different,” said DFL CEO Christian Seifert. “After the first day, we will all know why we prefer games with fans.”
“But that is the framework in which we have to operate, and I hope for the best possible sport within this framework.”
Generalized tests
At first glance, DFL’s guidelines for the new normal of soccer seem to have covered all eventualities.
Everyone should practice social distancing, and players must alternate the time they spend in the locker room, while staying 1.5 meters away and still wearing a face mask.
Hygiene staff will be on hand to disinfect the locker rooms once players have gone to the field where pre-game handshakes and team photos are among some of the jokes thrown out.
The balls will be disinfected before the game and the balls (ages 16 and up) will continue to be cleaned during games.
The same is true for players and coaches on the substitute bench who must sit at least one seat apart and continue to wear masks whenever possible.
Teams will now be able to use five substitutions per game to deal with the congested match list.
Before Saturday afternoon, all teams have been isolated in seven-day training camps where the DFL has demanded equally strict security protocols.
Players will be evaluated at least twice a week throughout the season, and will need a negative result before traveling to the stadium to play.
As a result, Dresden’s second tier game against Hannover on May 17 will not be contested and the entire team has undergone a two-week quarantine.
Billion audience
A restricted number of television crews will be allowed inside the stadium with a potentially huge global audience interested in their first contact with the competition for months.
“The Bundesliga is now the first major league in the world to resume play,” Bayern Munich chief executive Karl-Heinz Rummenigge told Sport Bild.
“And if the Bundesliga is the only league in the world that is broadcast on television, then I suppose we will have an audience of billions worldwide.”
DFL’s Seifert previously said that clubs in the country’s two major leagues would lose a total of $ 823 million if the season could not be completed, through losses in television rights, advertising and ticket sales.
On the field, there will be a lot of interest in what promises to be a fascinating ending to a season with everything to play for.
Reigning champion Bayern Munich leads the table, but has several chasing rivals.
Borussia Dortmund is just four points from second place, with RB Leipzig and Borussia Mönchengladbach also within reach of the title with nine games remaining.
Meanwhile, Werder Bremen and SC Paderborn are anchored at the foot of the league, but both can reach safety.
The DFL has confirmed that there will be relegation in the two major divisions if the season can be completed and the season deadline can be extended beyond June 30 if necessary.
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