Professional sport is becoming a closed society again, the “ghost games” will return for everyone shortly after Christmas: For fear of the highly contagious Corona variant Omikron, politicians decided on Tuesday as expected, spectators at major national sporting events from December 28th completely to exclude. “Large supraregional events are no longer allowed to take place with an audience, this applies in particular to football matches,” said Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz. How long this regulation, which was made at the federal-state summit, initially remained open.
The next meeting of politicians is to take place on January 7th, on this day the second half of the Bundesliga begins, which is also likely to be affected by the decision. Most recently, stadiums and halls in some federal states were still allowed to occupy some spectator seats.
The German Football League (DFL) regretted the measure, but showed understanding. The temporary restrictions are “regrettable but understandable – even if we all hoped until recently that there would be no nationwide return to games without fans in the stadiums,” it said in a statement by the league association. The DFL called again to get vaccinated or to have the vaccination refreshed.
“This is not good news for all professional sport,” said managing director Alexander Wehrle of the Bundesliga soccer club 1. FC Köln. “For FC that means a loss of 1.8 million euros in sales per game. That also means that we will have to take action in the coming weeks and months,” said Wehrle and complained: “All the findings that we have from the health authorities or the health department Cologne, say that there were no hotspots at open-air events. “
Werder boss expresses understanding
Hans-Joachim Watzke, Managing Director of Borussia Dortmund, had also warned the decision-makers beforehand against a “symbolic policy” and showed no understanding for the exclusion of spectators Able to deal.
Second division Werder Bremen expects a shortfall in income of around 1.1 million euros per game. Nevertheless, Werder boss Klaus Filbry endorsed the political measures: “Due to the expected dynamics that the Omikron variant will bring to the pandemic, we fully understand the decision of the politicians.”
Indoor sports are even more affected than football
Indoor sports, which are even more dependent on viewer income than football with its billion-dollar TV contract, are hit hard by the measure. In the German ice hockey league, all games will take place in front of empty ranks on December 28, the basketball Bundesliga will be affected a day later. In the DEL, salaries are now often linked to the number of spectators, and corresponding clauses should “be drawn now”, as the league managing director Gernot Tripcke confirmed: “The clubs will somehow get through the season, but many are really at risk for the future.” It is “extremely important that the corona aid for professional sports continues to flow,” said Tripcke – and to a greater extent: “But it is not enough just to extend it.” The handball Bundesliga is lucky that the game will be suspended until February 9th due to the European Championship. Whether the audience will return by then seems to be at least questionable.
Serious resistance in the form of legal disputes is (for the time being) not to be expected. Because: The lockdown is looming – and this political measure would threaten the very existence of many clubs. Before the federal-state summit on Tuesday, the Robert Koch Institute demanded, among other things, a “ban on major events” and the “closure of indoor sports facilities” as immediate measures in its strategy paper. A shutdown would be “equivalent to a professional ban” and must be averted with all might, said HBL managing director Frank Bohmann.
In order to avoid the worst case, the professional leagues are currently pushing for a booster vaccination of their players. Unlike in North America and England, where the fifth wave is underway, the spread of Omikron has only just begun in Germany.