Cologne (dpa) - Sports director Horst Heldt has made it clear that the existence of 1. FC Köln is not threatened even if the Bundesliga may end in the season.
"1. FC Köln is not one of the clubs at risk of bankruptcy," said Heldt. The "kicker" had recently reported that 13 out of 36 professional clubs could face bankruptcy in May or June if the season could not continue as planned in May. "I would also question whether there are really 13 clubs," said Heldt and said: "Current horror scenarios are out of place."
Like some other Bundesliga clubs, FC started on Monday with training sessions in small groups on the pitch. Because of the corona virus pandemic, only individual training of the players was recently possible. "Today I first saw bright faces," reported Heldt. The 50-year-old described the resumption of joint training under strict conditions as "perhaps the first step back to normal".
The Cologne team train in groups of up to eight players on the pitch, but without physical contact and with sufficient distance on and off the pitch. Heldt rejected a special treatment for professional football in view of the current other restrictions for the population: "No one is talking about Bundesliga games again tomorrow."
It is planned to continue the season without spectators from the beginning of May. "We are talking about almost a full month by then," said Heldt, who expressed the hope that restrictions in everyday life could also be relaxed by then.
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