He is something like the strong man in the European handball cup.
This makes Gerd Butzeck one of the sport's first crisis managers.
In the interview he talks about sport in the pandemic.
Munich
- As head of the Forum Club Handball, he is something like the strong man of the European Cup competitions.
The 61-year-old, who was among other things manager of TSV Milbertshofen in his career, is currently one of the first crisis managers for ball throwers.
In the interview he talks about the problems in times of Corona.
In Europe, the number of infections is skyrocketing again.
The European handball competitions were also affected.
And that in a season in which the schedules leave little room for maneuver.
How big is your belief in a happy ending?
It would be naive to think that the problem will not affect us.
Ultimately, we have no choice but to play.
And when a game can't be played, it is left out for the time being.
In the end there are different options.
Clubs that agree on a game or two games in quick succession.
Or you can play tournaments in a bubble at the end of the season, where you catch up on the failed games.
One thing is clear: not playing is no solution.
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Also managed Milbertshofen: Gerd Butzeck.
© imago sportphotodienst
So is a season without spectators better than no season in comparison?
In the long run, games with no or only a few spectators are of course not sustainable.
Because a large part of the income is missing.
Even if there are of course differences in the degree of concern.
In my observations, the bigger the club, the bigger the problem.
Just like there are regional differences.
In the Bundesliga, for example, viewers make up 40 to 50 percent of the budget.
In countries like Germany or Denmark the suffering is therefore naturally greater than in Macedonia or Spain.
But it's also about sport as a whole.
Handball has developed very well in recent years.
At the European level, television revenues alone have tripled to quadruple.
We cannot lock our business down for a year.
We do everything we can to ensure that operations are as regulated as possible.
What influence can you have?
For example, a charter flight program has been set up for the Champions League - 80 to 90 percent of the games can be played on charter.
Which gives the clubs a high degree of flexibility.
We support this with money that we have generated in recent years.
But of course that is only one component.
The first week of the national team is coming soon - it gives me a headache.
Because the players travel individually to risk areas?
Yes, the associations have to ensure that these players don't have to be quarantined for two weeks after their return.
The 48-hour rule would help a lot.
But the countries are very different overall.
Norway is extremely strict.
Or Hungary has a very unusual regulation.
If a player tests positive there and has symptoms, then he not only has to be in quarantine for two weeks, he is not allowed to train for another four weeks.
There is the case of a player from Szeged who posted on social media: "Yes, I am positive and I am not doing well."
He's been out of the running for six weeks ...
I agree.
This of course leads to the fact that nobody admits that he has symptoms.
I don't even want to talk about the not infrequent false positive tests.
Would you like a more liberal approach?
Clearly, yes.
An example: I was recently at a meeting in Vienna.
Then I wanted to watch a Champions League game in Kiel.
I received the card with a questionnaire.
Question nine was: “Have you been in a risk area in the last 14 days?” Even though I was tested in Vienna, I answered the question truthfully with “yes”.
The rule is: If even one answer is yes, then there is no entry.
One can argue about whether this is appropriate to the risk.
You also have to see the consequences.
Sport is threatened.
Daniel Hopp in Mannheim said yes.
Even the 20 percent of viewers who are admitted to the test phase in Germany are too few to even cover the hall costs.
And even if the halls were opened again immediately - who says that people will really come back then?
Many of the viewers over 60 will think twice and say: I belong to a risk group, I prefer to stay at home.
How is a club supposed to deal with this when it has no way of making money.
No question about it: this year the outcome of the season is of secondary importance.
It's about survival.
You said the big clubs suffer more.
Will the scene change?
For example, will patrons' associations take the lead?
That is of course very difficult to predict.
But patrons also have to earn their money somehow.
Kielce, for example (Poland, editor's note) is essentially controlled by an entrepreneur.
But its company is just as affected by Corona as the great majority suffer from Corona.
I think everyone will have their problems.