RB Leipzig: Fan return – club becomes a blueprint for the rest of the league

Stand: 4:09 p.m. | Reading time: 3 minutes

NNew fan lust instead of ghostly sadness, at least roughly. RB Leipzig starts the new Bundesliga season in front of up to 8,500 spectators. Against 1. FSV Mainz 05, the Red Bull Arena will be 20 percent occupied on September 20th. The club and the city of Leipzig announced on Tuesday. The move could have a signal effect for the entire league, according to the club, the RB concept is supported by the German Football League (DFL), other clubs and the Saxon state government.

“We are aware of the great trust placed in us by politics and the authorities and will deal with it extremely responsibly and prudently,” said RB CEO Oliver Mintzlaff. Leipzig’s Lord Mayor Burkhard Jung spoke of daring a piece of normality. “We are aware that the pandemic is far from over. But wherever possible, people must be allowed – under strict conditions – to get their everyday life back, ”said the 62-year-old.

SPD health expert Karl Lauterbach criticized the approval as “unsporting and epidemiologically wrong”. At the beginning of the second corona wave, this decision sends “the completely wrong signal that the risk of the pandemic has been averted,” wrote the member of the Bundestag in the short message service Twitter. In addition, other clubs without appropriate approval are at a disadvantage.

You have to reside in Saxony

The tickets for the game will be raffled among season ticket holders and will not be available for free sale. RB has currently sold 22,500 season tickets. There is another restriction in the raffle: If you want to take part against Mainz, you have to be resident in Saxony. Fans have to provide their address and there will be spot checks at the stadium entrance.

The condition is that the spectators must wear a mask and strict distance rules. These are achieved, among other things, by creating a cluster, in which sufficient space must be left between small groups of spectators.

In addition, the approval of the health authority depends on the infection rate in Leipzig and can be withdrawn again in the event of a negative development. RB had already submitted a hygiene concept to the health department for more than two months, which had been approved by the authority. At that time one had hoped for almost 20,000 fans.

With one step, the city and the club create facts – and oppose major Berlin politics. The federal government recently recommended not to admit fans until the end of October. In a working group of the state chancelleries, a concept should be worked out how Bundesliga football could be possible with spectators.

Saxony’s Minister of Social Affairs, Petra Köpping, praised RB’s hygiene concept, but also spoke out in favor of a nationwide uniform approach. Prime Minister Michael Kretschmer, on the other hand, supports RB. “Thanks to personal responsibility, much more has become possible in Saxony than in other federal states. We want to continue our Saxon path, ”said the 45-year-old.

Leipzig last played in front of fans on March 10th. The 3-0 in the second leg of the Champions League second leg against Tottenham Hotspur was watched by 42,146 spectators in the sold-out stadium. The following Bundesliga matchday had already fallen victim to the coronavirus pandemic and was postponed.

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