Will the Bundesliga be the first major league to return to total closed doors due to the Covid? The risk is real, as Leipzig played on Saturday without spectators and Bayern will in turn have to do so.
“The Bundesliga will continue without spectators. It’s a fair decision, ”said on Tuesday Michael Kretschmer, the president of the executive of the Land of Saxony, who imposed Sunday in camera on RB Leipzig (beaten 3-1 by Leverkusen). The Land of Baden- Württemberg (Friborg and Stuttgart) also voted in favor of this decision.
The leaders of the regional states and the federal government could not reach an agreement but are expected to render their decision on Thursday.
“If we don’t make the decision at federal level, Bavaria will do it alone. If we close the Christmas markets, it is not coherent to send 15,000 or 18,000 people to football, ”further pleaded the popular head of the Bavarian regional government Markus Söder.
In Germany, each region is autonomous to decide on anti-Covid measures, and some clubs can play in a full or partial stadium while others play behind closed doors.
After a 2020-2021 season with almost all games behind closed doors, the public was allowed to return in August: Bayern Munich and Dortmund, the two leaders, played respectively in front of 34,000 and 43,000 spectators on average, i.e. about half of their capacity.
On Saturday, Bayern, already under restrictions, only played against Bielefeld (1-0) in front of 12,000 people.
An incidence rate of 452.2 per 100,000 inhabitants
“We must clearly limit large leisure gatherings,” Helge Braun, chief of staff to outgoing Chancellor Angela Merkel, said on Tuesday, “given the dramatic situation in the country, he is no longer responsible for attending Bundesliga matches like last weekend with tens of thousands of spectators ”.
“Everyone agrees that something must be done in football,” added the Bavarian Markus Söder, pointing to the always very passionate “Rhine derby” Cologne-Mönchengladbach (4-1), which took place on Saturday in front of 50,000 spectators.
This meeting aroused disapproval in the political class, while the pandemic is experiencing a new outbreak in Germany, with an incidence Tuesday of 452.2 per 100,000 inhabitants.
“Allowing games to play in full stadiums last weekend was a mistake. It should have been prevented ”, criticized the leader of the Greens Robert Habeck, appointed as vice-chancellor of the government which will succeed Angela Merkel in December.
Saturday, Dortmund, second in the championship, receives Bayern, leader, in a “Klassiker” that makes Germany salivate football. No official decision has yet been announced, but it’s a safe bet that the dreaded Signal Iduna Park will ring hollow at 6.30pm… If it isn’t downright empty.
