Will the restart take place with or without fans? The BFV will sound out this soon. The number of viewers is manageable, especially in the lower leagues.
Würmtal - The football season is still on the brink. Although almost all teams have already played test matches and are in the middle of preparation, the schedule of the Bavarian Football Association (BFV) is still hanging by a thread. On the first weekend in September, the season, now known as the 2019/21 season, should ideally continue. The problem: The Bavarian state government is not yet making any effort to allow spectators to play football games again until then. For its part, the BFV announced in April: "Clear message: no ghost games in amateur football!"
Janker: Start in September with audience restrictions
At least the functionaries no longer seem to take this opinion with the consistency they had at the time. "We would like to sound out where the pain threshold is for the clubs in terms of spectator numbers," said association game director Josef Janker yesterday on the amateur football internet portal FuPa. The BFV "definitely doesn't want any competitive games with spectator restrictions or even without fans". But you have to be realistic. “We would like to start in September, but it cannot be assumed that we will be able to do so at this time without viewer restrictions,” said Janker.
Ochsenkühn: If you cancel the continuation of the season, it would be a disaster
In the Würmtal there is great unanimity in the clubs. The footballers just want to play. “We coaches always have to create a tension for the players,” says Thomas Ochsenkühn. Not only the coach of TSV Graefelfing II has already made his kickers hot for the season continuation in September. "If you cancel that again now, it would be a disaster," says Ochsenkühn. His colleague from TSV Neuried II agrees. “That wouldn't be a good signal, everything has just been ramped up again,” says Maximilian Zgud.
Würmtaler coaches would do without spectators if necessary
If necessary, most of the Würmtaler coaches would even completely forego spectators, which the BFV rules out. "With us every game is a ghost game anyway," says Mario Germek with a laugh. The DJK Würmtal coach is alluding to the low number of spectators in the lower amateur leagues. Ochsenkühn and Zgud would ultimately also opt for ghost games and against changing the schedule. The main thing is that the game continues. “I don't care whether we hold the class with or without an audience,” says Zgud with a wink. As is well known, Michael Lelleck was not a fan of continuing the season from the start. Now that this decision has long been off the table, the coach urgently wants to stick to the schedule. "I'm not happy with the situation, but it wouldn't matter to me whether there were spectators or not," Lelleck explains. "The priority is that the team play football again."
Germek: In the amateur area, you can also appeal to the fans' reason
The Würmtaler exercise leaders would prefer to simply limit the number of spectators. Germek is certain: "In the lower leagues it would be no problem to control and coordinate that the gaps are kept." Franz Möhwald, trainer of TSV Pentenried, also thinks this is the optimal solution. “Marking the seats” and distributing the standing fans around the square: that is his approach. “In the amateur area, you can also appeal to the senses of the fans,” adds Möhwald.
Meanwhile, the BFV is obviously very sure that everything is going according to plan. Yesterday he published the group classification for the new league cup. So the plans are running undeterred. ( MICHAEL GRÖZINGE R )