A top politician in Germany has asked everyone ahead of Budneliga’s return on Saturday to strictly adhere to the health protocols laid by the German Football League (DFL) and the government and warned that on disobeying the guidelines one could be shown a “red card”.
“If health experts have made those suggestions, if the league with great expense and smart ideas has worked on concepts, you have to stick those rules,” Bavarian minister president Markus Soder told German outlet Bild on Friday as quoted by ESPN.
“And if you do not stick to those rules, you might get the red card. It’s like that in football as well as in real life,” he added.
Soder’s comments come after Augsburg coach Heiko Herrlich exposed a loophole in Bundesliga’s security measures by reveling in a virtual press conference that he had broken the rule of a mandatory seven-day training camp quarantine.
There have been several reports of Bundesliga clubs overlooking guidelines which have triggered concern among the league authorities.
Werder Bremen on Friday announced that one of their players was put on quarantine after someone from his personal circle tested positive for the novel coronavirus, reported ESPN. Borussia Monchengladbach informed that they had cut short their seven-day quarantine to six days.
Meanwhile, the authorities fear that the fans may also flout the government protocols and gather outside the locked venues during the matches. The authorities have warned the fans to not break social distancing guidelines as it might lead to the stoppage of the games.
Bundesliga will become the first major European football competition to resume after getting suspended due to the crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. And in Germany, which has the highest average attendances per game in the world, keeping fans away would be a hard nut to crack, accepted the authorities.