The 36 teams of the first and second Bundesliga approved on Tuesday the plan presented by the top of the German Football League (DFL) to make possible the return of the public to the stadiums, whose implementation depends on the evolution of the coronavirus pandemic and of the decisions of the political leaders.
The DFL's plan includes eliminating the contingent of tickets for fans of visiting teams, eliminating posts to watch games on their feet and banning the sale of alcohol.
In addition, the entries should be personalized to make it possible to trace people in the event that contagions are detected.
“The priority in Germany is not now to fill stadiums, but rather the public health situation”, said DFL managing director Christian Seifert. “Coronavirus continues to play an important role today,” he added.
The Bundesliga restarts in the second half of September and the final decision about whether a limited number of spectators can return to the stadiums must be made by policy makers.
Bavarian Prime Minister Markus Söder was recently skeptical due to the increase in new infections that has been observed in recent days, which, according to the conservative politician, “makes it difficult to think of matches with 25,000 spectators.”
The organization “Unsere Kurve”, which groups various ultras clubs, has also been skeptical about the possibility that the public may return to the stadiums.
“Despite the desire to return to the stadiums, we must remember that we live in the midst of a pandemic and good sense must give priority to the protection of health,” said Jost Peter, member of the Unsere Kurve leadership, in statements to Berlin media. .
“If the contagions go up, and the consequence is that we cannot go to the stadiums, it is something that we have to accept,” he added.
The current situation and the warnings of epidemiologists about a possible flare-up of the pandemic mean that it cannot be ruled out that the entire season will have to be played behind closed doors.