Bundesliga Planning To Return Within A Month

The Bundesliga could return as early as the beginning of May, with German Football League (DFL) chief executive, Christian Seifert, saying the country’s top two soccer competitions could resume play in less than a month’s time.

The Bundesliga and 2 Bundesliga have been suspended since March 13 due to the COVID-19 (Coronavirus) pandemic and this statement from Seifert confirms rumours that begun after Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund returned to training earlier in the week.

“We are part of the culture in the country, people long to get back a short piece of normal life, and that could mean the Bundesliga plays again,” Seifert told the New York Times.

“This is why we have to play our role here, and that means to support the government and to talk with the government about when we will be able to play again,” he said.

Seifert also said the games would be closed behind closed doors and will likely remain that way until the end of the year, but estimated that even in empty stadiums, Bundesliga matches will require 240 people, including players, coaching and medical staff, match officials and production staff.

In order to handle the potential spread of the Coronavirus with this number of people required for the operation of Bundesliga matches, Seifert proposed two groups, one tasked with setting up uniform matchday regulations, and the other to devise a hygiene plan for training and games to work out what measures to take if a player tests positive.

“The concept is to give certainty to players, to their families and to society as well,” Seifert said.

“We are in very constructive talks with all our partners no matter if it’s pay-TV of free-TV,” he said.

These plans come not long after the German league announced if the season was cancelled, they would lose as much as €750 million (AUD $1.29 billion) and 50 percent of the 2 Bundesliga teams would be very much in danger of bankruptcy and as many as five Bundesliga teams may be as well.