New season won’t see fans back in the stands for Bundesliga games

BERLIN: Bundesliga clubs had their hopes dampened on Monday of a partial return of football fans in stadiums when the new league season kicks off in Germany on September 18.

Last week, the 36 clubs in Germany’s top two tiers agreed to a four-point proposal by the German Football League (DFL) which could see fans return to stadiums despite the pandemic. Clubs agreed to sell personalised tickets to track spectators, no away fans for the rest of 2020, no alcohol allowed until October and fans seated only, with terraces to remain empty.

The plans, however, must first be approved by the German government. Politician Dilek Kalayci, chairman of the conference of Germany’s health ministers which met Monday, poured cold water on the league’s hopes. “We do not intend to pass a resolution on the DFL’S hygiene concept,” Kalayci told newspaper Berliner Morgenpost before the conference. “Professional football is not at the top of the health ministers’ priority list.”

Germany’s top flight clubs lose several million euros in lost match revenue for every home game played behind closed doors. However, the number of Covid-19 cases are rising slightly in Germany with 436 new cases in the last 24 hours and a total of around 9,000 deaths.

The final nine rounds of league matches last season were all played behind closed doors.

Frizt Keller, the president of the German FA, has raised the idea of mass testing of spectators next season, but Kalayci torpedoed the idea. “The idea that, among other things, all fans in stadiums could be tested is viewed critically by the majority of ministers,” Kalayci added. “Especially because before and after the game, no one can exclude and control large crowds and alcohol consumption. We need the testing capacity in many other areas.”