In Seefeld, the German national soccer team is getting fit for the European championship.
Tomorrow, Friday, the stars will travel to their training camp in Tyrol.
The world will notice a lot of this, the Seefelder less.
Because Jogi Löw and Co. are sealed off by fences and security forces.
Seefeld
- When the Spanish national team moved into their EM quarters in the Tyrolean Stubai Valley in 2008, the coach asked local boys to be the ball boys. The top stars even kicked a few balls back and forth with them. Things will look very different in Seefeld in 2021. It needs fences and security personnel - and the fans should stay at home. "Covid-19 makes everything a little stricter," says Mayor Werner Frießer. The demands are high. "The German Football Association (DFB) is perfectly organized here."
Most of the security staff and media accreditation are handled by the DFB. The municipality of Seefeld is responsible for the perfect lawn and the other quality standards of the pitches, the tourism association (TVB) of the Olympiaregion for the corona-compliant accommodation of the 70 journalists, the fencing of the training area and the additional patrol duty in the sports and media area as well as at the hotel . "We built a total of two and a half kilometers of fence, laid two hiking trails and partially closed the roller-skis," says TVB managing director Elias Walser. In addition, the webcam of the World Cup arena has been frozen since May 21st. It almost seems as if Manuel Neuer, Toni Kroos, Mats Hummels and Co. not only want to protect themselves from Corona or intrusive fans, but also by no means want to be looked at in their cards.Because even the only public training in Innsbruck's Tivoli Stadium has been canceled.
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Pure luxury: The hotel "Nidum", in which the football professionals stay during the training camp, has optimal training and regeneration conditions.
© DPA
The total isolation of the DFB team should make the young domestic fans especially sad. "It would have been really cool for the children if they had been able to watch their idols live," says Ernst Meier, chairman of FC Seefelder Plateau. They are used to having to vacate their training grounds in Seefeld again and again for training camps for large football teams. “Then we move to Gießenbach or Leutasch.” But to see the ball arts up close would have been a dream. “On the other hand,” says Meier, “the children have been living with the Covid 19 restrictions for over a year and understand why they are not allowed to come to the square”.
Nevertheless, they are disappointed.
Like Sergio Trivic, an ardent fan of the German national team, FC Bayern and especially Joshua Kimmich.
“I just got the new jersey,” says the boy.
“My biggest dream would be an autograph.” The eight-year-old, who himself kicks the ball as a striker in the U9 of the home club, lives just a stone's throw from the stadium.
"Maybe I'll hear something or go up the mountain with the binoculars."
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Fence landscape in the stadium: the German soccer stars will not be admired during training.
© Kathrin Ebenhoch
Not a bad idea at all. Because that will probably be the only way to catch a glimpse of the players. The paths around the stadium are either blocked, relocated or surrounded by privacy fences over two meters high. The tourists not interested in football, who have been allowed to come back to Seefeld since May 19, are restricting the measures. “We have to do without a small part of our infrastructure for ten days,” says Walser. "But we count on understanding, after all, something like this also happens at other events such as the winter sports events in Seefeld." The TVB boss also assumes that cross-country skiers and biathletes will get over the short-term waiver of the roller-skis and the biathlon facility.
Overall, Mayor Frießer and Walser rate the training camp as a great asset for the region.
"The advertising value with daily TV reports and the entire media interest is priceless," stresses Frießer.
"In addition, it comes at exactly the right moment for the start of summer and for a new start after Corona in the region," adds Walser.
The two are not worried that aggressive football fans could cause problems in Seefeld.
"The DFB and the region are well prepared," says Frießer.
Walser adds: "Although we can still only speculate about the number of visitors and Covid-19 makes things a lot more complicated, we ran through several scenarios with the authorities." The concept can be adapted quickly and at any time.
BY KATHRIN EBENHOCH
