Germany has been suggested to allow Bundesliga football to return as part of initiatives to ease coronavirus restrictions across the country from Friday 15 May.
Germany’s response to the virus has been widely lauded, with a program of mass monitoring introduced to monitor new cases and keep the death toll fairly small.
The last Bundesliga game between Borussia Mönchengladbach and Köln took place on 11 March, with a suspension on the action brought into effect later that week.
But where other domestic leagues have been abandoned in France and the Netherlands as a result of government orders banning all public activities until September, Germany’s Bundesliga looks likely to be the first major European league to restart the campaign in 2019/20.
A return was previously expected on May 9, but last week it was reported that the country’s football hopes to get the go-ahead from authorities to restart on May 16 or 23.
Most training has already begun in Germany, and Reuters highlighted 15 May as ‘possibly’ the date that will now see the requisite permission given at the state level to play football.
However, there will also be ‘strict guidelines’ that must be adhered to in order to minimize the possibility of a second wave of the outbreak, including no fans permitted in the stadia.
In preparation for the return to action, testing for COVID-19 at Bundesliga clubs has increased, with three positive cases recorded at Köln and 10 total from 1,724 checks on players and staff. The three affected in Köln are in isolation for 14 days and the club has not had any more incidents.
Both the Premier League and La Liga are looking back to June to finish the 2019/20 season, while Italy’s Series A still maintains a desire to complete the campaign.
