No fans at Bundesliga matches in November as Germany fights virus

By Andreas Schirmer and Nathalia Araujo, dpa
Berlin (dpa) – Fans will be banned from Bundesliga matches for the month of November, in a bid to slow Germany’s soaring coronavirus infection rate, sources at federal and state government talks told dpa.

Germany plans to close all cultural and recreational facilities, and that includes all stadiums and venues hosting professional sports events.

The closures are part of a pre-Christmas shutdown sought by Chancellor Angela Merkel, which is set to go into effect on Monday. Merkel secured the backing of Germany’s 16 state premiers to also enact sweeping contact restrictions.

After the first lockdown in March the German football association (DFB) and the German football league (DFL) came up with a sophisticated hygiene concept to first resume football fixtures and finish last season, and later allow fans in the stadiums.

For the current season, the DFL received the green light from politicians to fill football stadiums up to 20 per cent of the total capacity pending approval from local authorities considering the coronavirus infection rates in each region.

While some clubs like RB Leipzig and Union Berlin were able to welcome a few thousand fans for matches, others played in front of just a few hundred. Champions Bayern Munich had not yet opened their stadium to supporters.

For the upcoming weekend many clubs had already said they will host their games behind closed doors.

No fan admission at all in stadiums and other sports venues brings an existential risk especially to basketball, handball, volleyball and ice hockey teams who are more reliant on gate income than football.

“The situation is critical. If we are thrown further back, then we are helpless,” German handball league director Frank Bohmann said on Tuesday.