Germany’s top-flight football matches could resume from May 9, regional leaders of the country’s biggest states said Monday, although games can only take place without spectators to prevent coronavirus contagion.
Markus Soeder,
state premier of Bavaria, said it remains “completely unimaginable to have
spectators” in the stadiums given the need for social distancing to slow the
virus spread.
But “we could perhaps from May 9 play such a round of ‘ghost games’,” Soeder told Bild, using the German term “Geisterspiele” for matches played in empty stadiums.
“A weekend with
football is much more bearable than a weekend without football,” he added.
Likewise, Armin
Laschet, premier of North Rhine-Westphalia state which is home to Borussia
Dortmund, said the league could resume “on condition that there is a thoroughly
thought-out concept”.
The German Football
League (DFL) has presented “safeguards” in recent days, said Laschet, adding
that he “can imagine us returning to ‘ghost games’”.
The backing of the
two state premiers could prove to be crucial to the league as it mulls a
resumption of the Bundesliga.
A decision is
imminent with a video conference due to be held Thursday between the DFL and 36
clubs in the first and second divisions.
While Germany began
easing curbs and allowing smaller shops to open from Monday, large public
events have been scrapped through to August 31.
In the face of
pressure from industry anxious to get business going again, Laschet, who
controls Germany’s biggest state by population, has pushed for more
relaxations.
But Soeder, who
runs the country’s biggest state by surface that is also home to Bayern Munich,
has taken a more cautious stance, including keeping schools shut a week longer
than elsewhere in Germany.
The DFL is
desperate for the season to be finished by June 30 to secure an instalment of
television money, reportedly worth around 300 million euros ($326 million).
