Bundesliga showcases new normal
IT MAY be in the same continent as the GAA but as a professional sport it is a world away. And, yet, it offered a glimpse of what the GAA may look like if it ever returns. A ravenous global appetite for live sport and pure curiosity made the Borussia Dortmund and Schalke the most watched Germany soccer match in history – it was estimated that it has a television audience of a billion people – and perhaps also the most surreal. Behind closed doors game are nothing new to soccer, but mask-wearing subs, disinfected balls and socially distant goal celebrations are. More than anything, though, was the realisation this was not a one-off sanctioned punishment but a first shot at the new normal. Inevitably, for all the quality on show, it made for an unsatisfying spectacle, so utterly devoid of atmosphere that even the usual inane observations of Steve McManaman in his role as co-commentator were a welcome break from the silence. While Horan has ruled out behind-closed-doors games, it is hard to imagine any government-led approved return of elite competition breaking with conventions set elsewhere. That being the case, the GAA will not only have to find a pathway back to safe activity, but when they get there they have to be satisfied it will be worth it. Last week, Limerick hurling manager John Kiely, while stressing that he would be led by public health safety, made the case for the championship returning before the end of the year. ‘I just think it would be a huge loss to society and Ireland as a whole were we not to have a Championship this year. ‘We have come through so many different historical events as an organisation, as a country and we have always managed to get it done,’ said Kiely. But that raises an existential question, even if it can be played, is it really worth playing it? Is the short-term distraction of restarting the GAA worth the price of watching a brutishly diminished spectacle? Would the wiping of the 2020 championship be a fitting monument to the trauma that this pandemic has visited on the nation? But before the GAA gets to wrestle with the existential, it must put manners on the practical. ‘When we get back training in late July or August let’s see where the virus is then, how society is coping and how we have adjusted. ‘We’re adjusting very quickly to this situation and we will have adjusted further in another 10 weeks. ‘Things we might think impossible to do today could be very possible in 10 weeks’ time,’ suggested Kiely. They will have to be as any optimism that the establishment of a government committee may invite has to be balanced against the reality of where things stand right now. ‘I don’t see it being something we could recommend from a public health perspective without social distancing and assuming we are not going to have an anti-viral therapy or a vaccine for 12 to 18 months, it is difficult to recommend. ‘I think team sports are going to be in a very difficult position,’ said Dr Cillian De Gascun, a head of the national virus laboratory and a member of NPHET, earlier this month. It will take more than talk to alter that bottom line.