German virologist warns that there will be no soccer until 2021

The German virologist Jonas Schmidt-Chanasit, from the Berhard-Nocht Institute in Hamburg, considers that the pause in football competitions will have to last until 2021 and he even rejects the possibility of playing behind closed doors before that date.

“I don't think in April they can talk about games being played again. Neither behind closed doors because they have the potential for people to gather at their homes to watch them,” Schmidt-Chanasit said in statements to Northern Television of Germany (NRD).

The Bundesliga has suspended the season until April 2 but that date is considered by many to be somewhat illusory.

The managing director of the German Football League (DFL), Christian Seifert, has said that closed-door matches are the only chance to save the season which would also involve saving some clubs from insolvency. Schmidt-Chanasit does not believe that the current season can be concluded. “I am convinced that it will only be possible to play again next year. I do not think it is realistic to think that this season can end,” he said.