The German Minister of Health, Jens Spahn, categorically rejected on Monday the return of spectators to the football stadiums with the start of the Bundesliga, whose first day will be held on various dates between Friday 18 and Monday 21 September . This government official even qualified such a possibility, which he had suggested from part of the German sports establishment, as a “bad sign” while the country suffers a resurgence of the covid-19 pandemic.
“Thousands of fans in the stadiums, this does not go with the current evolution,” Spahn said in a message via Twitter, after a meeting he held with the regional health ministers of all the federal states. “From a health point of view, we do not currently favor the opening (to the public) of the stadiums until at least October 31st. Depending on the situation, we will talk about it, “added the president of the confederation of regional health ministers, Dilek Kalayci, in statements to the DPA agency.
In Germany, a country with a federal system, the Länder (regional states) are responsible for preventive measures against the coronavirus, as is currently the case in Spain with the autonomous communities, although the central government tries to ensure that there is certain coordination in this regard. “Now it is a question of not taking avoidable risks,” added the minister, who justified his bet that football matches and other sporting events continue to be held behind closed doors given that “we feel that we must remain vigilant.”
Measurement protocol
The German Football League (DFL) had set the objective of a partial return of the spectators for the start of the next Bundesliga, with a health protocol that was detailed in July, although this had to be subsequently authorized by government officials. However, at the beginning of August the 36 German professional clubs, both first and second division, had accepted this model proposed by the DFL for the return of their fans.
Among the proposed measures was a ban on selling standing seats, nor alcohol inside the venues until October. Fans were also banned for German team matches abroad, at least until the end of the year.
Even for the Minister of Health, the protocol for the return of the spectators was “good in theory”, although the “decisive” would be “the practices in everyday life.” However, the president of the confederation of regional health officials warned that “professional football is not at the top of the list of priorities” for them. The Federation of German Doctors, the ‘Marburger Bund’, was also against the reopening of the stands. “The danger of mass contagion would be real”, argued its president, Susanne Johna, in the newspaper ‘Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung’.
After almost two months of hiatus due to the pandemic, last spring the German authorities adopted a hygiene and safety protocol, drawn up by the DFL and the German Football Federation (DFB), for the resumption of games behind closed doors. A protocol that worked perfectly and that served as a model throughout Europe, and was even largely followed by LaLiga in Spain. In any case, Germany had already decided that all large crowds in the country, sporting or otherwise, would remain banned until early November, at least.
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