By Pierre Avril, correspondent in Berlin
Stadium noise recorded to compensate for empty stands, and artificial clamor: the recipe found by Sky Sport, the biggest broadcaster in the Bundesliga to brighten the resumption of the German championship is like professional football in the days of the coronavirus : sanitized but inventive. After two months of interruption and confinement, the eighteen teams of the first division meet this weekend, behind closed doors, with the first poster, Dortmund against Schalke 04 (live in France on beIN, at 3.30 p.m. ). For their part, the stars of Bayern are not expected before 6 p.m. Sunday in Berlin. For the simple fact of being the first in Europe to resume its season (Italy, Spain and England may hope to be able to follow its example, France and Belgium having drawn a line under the season), German football has an unusual planetary aura.
»READ ALSO - Stambouli at Le Figaro:« No one put our knife under our throat to take over »
It is at the price of drastic rules, decreed by the League (DFL) on a document of fifty pages, that the players raise their crampons. No hugs after goals, virtual press conferences, coaches forced to wear a mask, separate substitutes on the sidelines, no mascots, no children and attendance limited to three hundred people in the stadium , separated into three hermetic groups. Faced with this situation, Julian Nagelsmann, the Leipzig coach, shows few feelings. "The nine games we have left, it's like a European championship, and we want to win them", summarizes the coach on the eve of receiving Friborg
Contradictions in the health protocol
To further complicate the situation in a country that has acquired federalism, the health rules applicable to teams vary from region to region. The Dynamo of Dresden (2nd division) where two players tested positive, put all his team in quarantine, forcing them to wait two weeks to resume play. An extension of the championship beyond June 30 is nevertheless envisaged. In contrast, at FC Cologne, where three players have contracted the virus, only the latter have been isolated, which will not prevent their teammates from facing Mainz on Sunday. The protocol is not free from contradictions. Thus, players will enter the field separately, which will not prevent them from going into contact in the penalty area.
It is for these reasons that the Minister of the Interior of the region of Bremen, Ulbrich Mauer, has called "irresponsible" the resumption of the championship, fearing that the initiative will set the bad example to a German population already reluctant to apply sanitary rules. A majority of them (56%) say they are hostile to this recovery, but the voice of this political leader remains isolated. The overwhelming majority of local barons, particularly in Bavaria and Baden-Würtemberg, lobbied the federal government to relaunch the Bundesliga.
"However, we believe there will be no cases of bankruptcy in the first division"
Christoph Breuer"The show must go on" has served as the motto for professional football weakened by the crisis. According to Christoph Breuer, an economist at the University of Sport in Cologne, the 36 clubs of the first and second divisions, in particular those deprived of ticketing, are bound to lose 250 million euros in revenue in their matches behind closed doors. If Bayern or Leverkusen and Wolfsburg, backed by large companies, have solid reserves, Schalke 04 is in a much more delicate situation. "However, we believe there will be no cases of bankruptcy in the first division," says Christoph Breuer. The main owner of broadcasts, Sky Sport, continued to pay its rights during the containment, to the tune of around 280 million euros. Friday, the chain had fun digging into its statistics for the month of August to establish the forecasts for the start of the new school year in May. As if nothing had happened.
Read also
- Stambouli at Le Figaro: "Nobody put our knife under our throat to take over"
