German Soccer League Set to Resume Next Month

The German soccer league’s top tier, the Bundesliga, is set to restart in May according to a number of reports though it appears that the stadiums will remain empty for the rest of the year.

Top sides Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund, the two biggest teams in the Bundesliga, are in full training mode after a number of weeks sidelined due to the spread of the coronavirus, and according to the league’s chief executive there could be meaningful league action very soon indeed.

Christian Seifert told the New York Times;

In working out a plan, the Bundesliga estimates that 240 people, including players, coaching and medical staff, match officials and production staff will be needed for each game. Two groups have been set up to deal with the practicalities of staging the game: one to set up uniform game day regulations and the other, perhaps more important, to devise a hygiene plan for training and games and to work out what measures to take if a player tests positive.

It appears the main reason that the German league can consider such a restart, and not the likes of England, Italy or Spain, comes due to the fact that the country has dealt with the pandemic in a much more structured manner than their near neighbors.

Testing is rampant in Germany and the number of deaths from the virus is markedly lower in the country when compared with other countries in Europe.

Seifert added;

“We are part of the culture in the country, people long to get back a short piece of normal life, and that could mean the Bundesliga plays again,” Seifert said. “This is why we have to play our role here, and that means to support the government and to talk with the government about when we will be able to play again.”

Though the stadiums these games will go ahead with will be empty we have no doubt that German soccer fans will be glad to have the distraction of being able to view their heroes in action and would be a sign of some sort of normalcy returning to their lives.