Berlin: Players arriving in several sparsely-populated team buses, substitutes wearing masks and goal celebrations limited to elbow bumps — when German football returns to the pitch this weekend, it will have to follow a draconian set of guidelines.
The German Football League (DFL) presented political leaders with a 51-page document of guidelines to earn the right for the Bundesliga to become the first of Europe’s big five leagues to resume action.
The matches will be surrounded by extraordinary measures to protect players and officials from infection by coronavirus.
And the weighty text underlines that “all of the measures are conditional on the fact that they do not divert indispensable resources from the fight against COVID-19 for the rest of the population”.
The central pillar of the DFL’s plan is the mass testing of players, coaches and backroom staff.
They are tested at least twice a week and once on the eve of matches. Any that test positive for the virus are separated from the rest of the team.
The decision to quarantine teams rests with the authorities in each of Germany’s federal states, which explains why the entire team of second-division Dynamo Dresden was placed in quarantine after two players were found to have coronavirus but Borussia Moenchengladbach, in a different state, continued to train after cases were found among their squad. Only around 300 people will be allowed into the stadium on matchdays. They are divided into three zones to avoid any contact between each group.
Only players, match officials, first aid personnel and a small group of photographers are allowed on the pitch. In the otherwise empty stands there will be just a handful of reporters and TV camera operators. Outside the stadium itself is the third category of personnel including security guards. It is the police’s job to prevent supporters gathering outside the stadiums.
The teams will arrive in several coaches to ensure each occupant is sitting 1.5 metres (five feet) apart. Everyone in the vehicles must wear masks. (AFP)
