Frankfurt / Main (dpa) – Angela Merkel’s apology and the tilted short lockdown at Easter also eliminated the last doubts for professional sport.
Now that the originally planned decision for an Easter break has now been revised by the head of government, the top leagues around the Bundesliga can also continue to play as planned. In a statement, Chancellor Merkel (CDU) called the Easter rest from Maundy Thursday to Monday, which was prescribed in the federal-state switch, “a mistake”.
“It had its good reasons, but in the short time it was available, it could not be implemented well enough, if it can ever be implemented in such a way that the cost and benefit are in a reasonably reasonable relationship,” said the Chancellor. Merkel explicitly admitted: “And to put the second thing in a nutshell: This mistake is solely my fault, because in the end I have the ultimate responsibility for everything. Qua Amt it is so, also for the decision made on Monday on the so-called Easter rest. “
This means that a forced break for the Bundesliga and other professional leagues in basketball, handball, volleyball and ice hockey, which have been running for months without any spectators and with hygiene concepts, is off the table. The German Football League (DFL) had already assumed that it would be possible to play as planned from Easter Saturday to Easter Sunday.
“The DFL currently has no information or factual reasons that oppose this,” quoted the “kicker” on Wednesday, even before the big Easter plan of the federal and state governments was overturned. The 27th matchday with the top match between RB Leipzig and FC Bayern Munich on Easter Saturday (6.30 p.m. / Sky) and the Berlin City Derby Union against Hertha on Easter Sunday (6.00 p.m. / Sky) can go on as planned.
Conflicting information from Lower Saxony, Saxony and Berlin had previously led to considerable confusion about the consequences of the Easter rest for professional sport. Berlin’s governing mayor Michael Müller had announced after the federal-state switch that there had to be a nationwide solution to this question.
The ghost game operation under strict conditions has become normal after more than a year of the corona pandemic. For around ten months, games have been played in mostly empty stadiums, and a whole Bundesliga year has passed since the beginning of the pandemic without a single top division game having to be canceled after the restart. “The Bundesliga gives people routine and a little normality,” said former world champion Philipp Lahm in an interview with the Internet portal “t-online.de”.
There is little or no real danger to the nationwide infection process from professional sport. The athletes are in their bladders and are constantly being tested. This also applies to other professional sports leagues. Nevertheless, there were corona-related game cancellations such as handball and basketball.
Instead of having to struggle with new catch-up dates, the planned program can now be continued. After there had recently been more game cancellations in the 2nd soccer league, the League Association once again sharpened the hygiene concept. In addition to the PCR tests, there are now also rapid tests, which are mandatory on every training and travel day from an incidence of 35.
The quarantine training camps announced on Tuesday for all professional clubs could take place from April 14th to 26th, according to a “kicker” report. The aim of the DFL is to be able to adhere to the existing schedule with the season finale in May.
© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210324-99-946910 / 4
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