The eyes of the sports world will be on Germany’s Bundesliga this weekend as it becomes the first “big league” to restart after the COVID-19 shutdown, but little will have changed on the pitch with Bayern Munich hunting an eighth straight crown.
The German Football League decided last week to resume the first and second divisions from 16 May after a two-month suspension, with teams undergoing a seven-day isolation period after testing for the new coronavirus.
Leaders Bayern begin the final nine matchdays with a trip to Union Berlin on Sunday with Borussia Dortmund, four points behind the Bavarians, playing Schalke 04 a day earlier.
“The Bundesliga manages to become the first big league worldwide to restart,” Bayern CEO Karl-Heinz Rummenigge said.
“And with the Bundesliga as the only league to be broadcast on TV, I expect we will have an audience of a billion,” he told SportBild magazine on Wednesday.
Strict health regulations mean all games will be played in empty stadiums with only some 300 essential staff and officials in and around the arenas.
Players have been told not to spit, celebrate in groups, or touch hands with team mates, while some clubs will use music and cardboard cutouts of fans to enhance the atmosphere at matches.
The league is desperate to complete the season by 30 June for contractual reasons and is aware of the risk of another suspension if there are many positive virus cases among players.
It has already warned of the “existence-threatening” financial situation of several clubs due to the suspension and has warned another interruption would be disastrous for both league and teams.
Discussion about this post