Start of the year in the upper house
Cancellations of games in the Bundesliga? DFL “alarmed” about weather
The German Weather Service is predicting an extreme situation for Friday, which will probably also affect the weekend. What does this mean for the start of the Bundesliga?
Despite the feared weather chaos in the next few days, the games at the start of the year in the Bundesliga are currently not in danger. “The DFL is alarmed. But all games are currently taking place,” said a spokesman for the German Football League in response to a dpa request. Above all, we look at the situation in the north and reassess the situation every day.
There will be three matches in the north on Saturday with Werder Bremen – TSG 1899 Hoffenheim, 1. FC Union Berlin – FSV Mainz 05 and FC St. Pauli – RB Leipzig. The German Weather Service is predicting extreme weather conditions with heavy snowfall for Friday. It will be particularly uncomfortable from Friday night onwards, when storm “Elli” takes over. According to the warning from the German Weather Service, eastern Germany, the Harz and the region between Bremen and Hamburg are particularly affected.
Eintracht sees no problems for the game against BVB
The first game of the 16th matchday takes place on Friday evening between Eintracht Frankfurt and Borussia Dortmund. “According to the assessment of the responsible authorities, there is currently no reason to assume that the game on Friday cannot take place as planned,” said Eintracht. “Through the stadium operator, we have deployed additional staff as a precautionary measure to clear snowfall, carry out gritting measures and ensure safety on the stadium site.”
Game cancellations in the upper house due to the pitch being unplayable have become rare given the mandatory pitch heating. In this case, the referee team must decide on site.
Difficult journey for fans
The problem is the journey for the fans, who have to expect black ice and snow in the next few days. In addition, Deutsche Bahn has already announced delays and train cancellations in long-distance transport due to weather conditions.
In addition, venue operators can have the stadiums closed due to dangers, for example if snow avalanches could slide off the roof. For this reason and because of security risks and the traffic situation, the match between FC Bayern Munich and Union Berlin in the Allianz Arena was canceled in December 2023. In January 2024, the Berlin game in Mainz was canceled.
Union is looking for helpers to shovel snow
Union fan clubs want to help their club remove the feared masses of snow and ice. According to a report in “Bild”, an appeal stated that the club’s employees could not ensure this on their own and would be happy to receive support.
When asked, Union explained that this was currently an issue for the fan clubs. It is still unclear how great the extent of the weather problems will be. “We are preparing as best we can to host the game,” said the Berliners. In Berlin and Hamburg, all amateur games have been canceled for this weekend, with many leagues only starting play later.
dpa
