North Rhine-Westphalia’s Prime Minister Hendrik Wüst (CDU) made it clear on Wednesday (January 27th, 2022) that nothing will happen before the next federal and state corona consultations on February 9th. “There can be no signal for large-scale, blanket easing.” The NRW regulation, with only 750 fans allowed so far, affects six clubs in the Bundesliga alone.
Oliver Kahn wants important signals
The three Bavarian Bundesliga clubs FC Bayern, FC Augsburg and Greuther Fürth, who were allowed to admit up to 10,000 people (maximum 25 percent of the total capacity), have it better. Ironically, the Bavarian state father Markus Söder (CSU), who had so quickly closed the grandstands for professional sports again in December. “I think it’s important to send this signal at this time”said Bayern Munich CEO Oliver Kahn. “We need sensible solutions, not just for football now, but basically in all areas of society.“
The state government in Baden-Württemberg also followed suit with a decision for up to 6,000 fans in stadiums with the 2G plus rule. Sports officials have repeatedly criticized the fact that political decisions have been decoupled from the facts in many places. And that it’s not about logic, it’s about symbolism. But the television picture often shows the areas in which the supporters are no longer so far apart.
Oliver Glasner doesn’t understand the opposites
During the Bundesliga match between Eintracht Frankfurt and Arminia Bielefeld (0:2) last Friday, the 1,000 fans on the lower blocks of the back straight between the huge banners of Eintracht legends Jürgen Grabowski and Karl-Heinz Körbel tried to cheer on their team. In order to bring a little life into the booth, their number is not enough. Then it would have to be the 15,000 that the state of Saxony-Anhalt has recently allowed for the third division club 1. FC Magdeburg.
Eintracht coach Oliver Glasner, like many of his league colleagues, would like to see 100 percent occupancy. The Austrians agree “sad and disappointed”that he has not yet been allowed to coach a single game in a sold-out Frankfurt arena. He got the premier league and just those Wild Card Games watched football, said Glasner and was irritated: “93,000 spectators in Dallas, where the stadium is closed, no masks. So I wonder why it works there and not here.“
It’s also about the money
As is so often the case in professional football, money is also at stake. It is precisely the brands that attract spectators who need the income from ticket sales, because these are fed into the budgets from the second half of the season. 1. FC Köln lose about 1.8 million euros in every home game without spectators. “The damage is enormous”says FC Managing Director Alexander Wehrle.
“Nobody tells us that the stadiums will continue to be full from spring.” In Cologne, season ticket holders have apparently already waived a refund of 8.6 million euros in the first 18 months of the corona pandemic. Overall, the corona-related loss of sales is said to be almost 85 million.
Fire letter from the Hessian clubs
Eintracht Frankfurt has also confirmed similar figures. There, Axel Hellmann has been in a similarly bad mood about politics as Wehrle for a long time. The spokesman for the board, together with President Rüdiger Fritsch from the second division table leader SV Darmstadt 98 and managing director Björn Seipp from the handball Bundesliga club HSG Wetzlar, wrote a fire letter to Prime Minister Volker Bouffier (CDU) and demanded an adjustment to the corona rules.
“It can’t be that tougher standards apply to professional sport than to other areas of society. We demand that Hesse break out of nationwide idleness.” Specifically, the clubs require that 25 percent of the capacity can be used.
Contradictions on matchday 21
If these restrictions remain in place in the coming days, it will become all too clear on the 21st matchday from February 4th what the Bundesliga bosses are upset about. In the huge Berlin Olympic Stadium, 3,000 people can watch the game against VfL Bochum on Friday evening, in Augsburg more than twice as many fans could see the game against Union Berlin on Sunday.
FC Bayern should get rid of 10,000 tickets for the top game against RB Leipzig. Borussia Dortmund, on the other hand, which has so far led the spectator table with an average of 33,517 visitors, would contest the chasing duel against Bayer Leverkusen on Sunday afternoon in front of a comparatively ridiculous 750 fans.
with sid/dpa
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Status: 01/27/2022, 3:17 p.m