A recovery under the watchful eyes of the whole world but in a disturbing silence, that of the empty stadiums. The shrill sound of a whistle at 3:30 p.m. sharp, the first pass back, and here the goosebumps suddenly returned on the forearms of Fussball lovers, deprived of their passion for precisely 63 days because of the pandemic of coronavirus. First balls exchanged, first instructions from the coaches, and first Dortmund-Schalke shock, the famous Ruhr Derby: football is indeed back. Impossible to be completely enthusiastic, however, because the shadow of the health crisis is visible everywhere. On the pretty masks worn by Schalke players when they enter the grounds of Signal Iduna Park; in the completely empty stands of this lair usually known for its famous Yellow Wall; and even on the substitutes' benches, where only one seat out of two is occupied by these masked heroes of the football.
Teams entered the fields separately
The camera and hygiene measures are what awaits Dortmund, Bayern, Leipzig and the other big names this weekend and for many weeks. Without ceremony or music, the teams entered the fields separately. No handshake, no children to accompany the players, and no sound adrenaline rush for the first hot actions. In Leipzig, which hosts Freiburg, some even kept their masks during the warm-up! The same confusing scenes had occurred a few minutes earlier on four stadiums in the second division, the D2 having resumed at 1 p.m. with an identical sanitary protocol. Around the stadiums, usually so lively, there is also silence. In Dortmund, place of the most awaited duel of the weekend between Borussia and Schalke, the atmosphere in town had nothing to do with a match day on Saturday, noted an AFP journalist . Several police vans were positioned, especially around the station, in order to avoid any gathering of supporters.
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Reasonable, the few fans met show realism: "Better matches behind closed doors to slow the progression of the epidemic than a health disaster", recognizes Nicole Bartelt, 44, black shirt of BVB on the back, who had to join a couple of friends to watch the meeting, respecting the sanitary rules authorizing meetings only between two different homes and with a minimum safety distance of 1.5 m. A little further, Marco Perz, 45 years old and holder of a permanent membership card since 1987, proudly wears a jacket on which are affixed dozens of club logos. "It would be absurd and dangerous" if the season did not come to an end, he judges: "Not necessarily for sportsmen, who may have to buy a Lamborghini less, but for the whole economy which depends from them, technicians, gardeners, fan stores. ”
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But this opinion is not unanimous: a majority of public opinion is not favorable to the resumption of the championship (56% of people questioned in a survey this week) ... The football sector, for its part, knows that 'by playing the last nine days of the season, his clubs will recover 300 million euros in TV rights, which will allow several of them to avoid bankruptcy. A pioneer in Europe among the major championships, Germany now bears the heavy responsibility of showing the way to its neighbors like England, Spain and Italy, who still hope to resume. The success or failure of its “re-start” operation will demonstrate that professional sport can live - or not - with the coronavirus. Up to Brazil, the world is attentive: in the land of Pelé, commentators did not hesitate to launch on television that there was as much waiting for these Bundesliga matches as for a World Cup final!
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Draconian health measures
To convince the German public authorities, the teams agreed to submit to draconian sanitary measures, and in particular had to isolate themselves from the world all this week. Two Bundesliga coaches have already been excluded from matches this weekend for violating their forties. Heiko Herrlich, of Augsburg, guilty of leaving the hotel to buy toothpaste in town. And Urs Fischer, his colleague from Union Berlin, who voluntarily left his group for family mourning. "The whole world is now looking to us," said Bayern Munich coach Hansi Flick on Friday: "It can be a signal for all the other leagues and it can allow the sport to resume everywhere (...). We have a very important role as an example. ” "We will have to stick to the rules, and if we do not stick to it, there is a risk of a red card", launched Friday the powerful head of the regional government of Bavaria Markus Söder, however fervent fan of soccer. Proof that the slightest deviation from the Bundesliga will undoubtedly have major consequences, far beyond German lawns.
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