Bundesliga likely to return from May 9th to empty stands

German Government gives the green signal for Bundesliga to resume

Updated: 17/11/2024

The Bundesliga could be making a comeback from May 9th if reports from the German Health Ministry are to be believed. The news came out from a meeting between the League and club executives last Thursday. What remains to be seen is how quickly the German Football League (Deutsche Futball Liga),  gets to hear back from the Government.

Bundesliga Table Standings

Christian Seifert, the CEO of the DFL was not sanguine about the chances of a Government decision to give a green signal for the games to begin from May 9th and all would depend on what transpires in a Government conference to decide this issue on April 30th.

But a leaked document from the German Football Association speaks of a number of guidelines that must be followed to limit the spread of the pandemic. It may be mentioned at this juncture that all Bundesliga fixtures had been suspended till April 30th.

For starters, players will have the option to live at home or in the team hotel but are banned from having intercourse if the player or their partner develop symptoms.

The report has advised keeping track of family members and not to share toothbrushes, towels, drinks, dishes or bed sheets.

Players have been advised to stay indoors and maintain a distance of at least two meters while sneezing or coughing and do so using handkerchiefs or on to their arms.

While in a hotel, the players have been asked to avoid contact with anyone else as much as possible and maintain the required two-meter distance.

They will not be allowed access to a bar or room service and must press the lift buttons with their elbows.

In terms of training, teams will be tested regularly before sessions (twice a week before the end of sessions) and contact training is to be minimal. Team meetings will take place in big, spacious rooms.

Players have been instructed to take showers indoors and individually put their kit and boots into the washing machine as a precaution.

Special arrangements will be made for travelling to games and temperature checks are to be carried out on every player upon entry to the stadium along with regular disinfecting of team buses and changing rooms.

Private conversations and whispering between teammates is to be avoided.

Teams will not be seen lining up alongside one another in the tunnel, substitutes will change and warm up separately and keep their distance on the bench. There will be no mascots or pre-match handshakes and any post-match activity like press conferences, especially, are being done away with.

The attendance in the playing arena will be restricted to 322 people – that includes players, staff, media, medical suport staff, etc.

There are as of the present 9 games remaining for each team in the 2019-20 Bundesliga season. Bayern Munich leads the table with 55 points from their 25 League outings. Only 6 points separated 4th placed Borussia Monchengladbach at the time the Bundesliga was suspended.

Borussia Dortmund are on the 2nd spot with 51 points and 3rd placed RB Leipzig have garnered 50.

While there is a palpable excitement among football-starved fans world over for a potential Bundesliga restart, there are sections of followers in Germany who feel that a quick return to footballing action after the nation-wide shutdown would make a “mockery of the rest of society.”

Bundesliga Fixtures

 

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