Berlin (dpa) – The fans are returning – at least in part.
According to a decision by the heads of the state and senate chanceries, more spectators can again be admitted to major national events nationwide – up to 10,000 outdoors with a maximum occupancy rate of 50 percent, indoors up to 4,000 with a maximum occupancy rate of 30 percent. This decision from Wednesday, which is available to the German Press Agency, is binding for the federal states, but still has to be incorporated into the respective Corona regulations.
In North Rhine-Westphalia, the new rules were implemented on Wednesday. The three Bundesliga clubs Borussia Dortmund, 1. FC Köln and Arminia Bielefeld, who took legal action against the previous NRW regulation with the restriction to 750 spectators, are now allowed to welcome significantly more fans in their home games at the weekend. The FC withdrew its lawsuit against the restrictions.
“We welcome the fact that the political decision-makers in North Rhine-Westphalia reacted quickly to our criticism and were able to follow our arguments for easing in discussions with us,” said FC Managing Director Alexander Wehrle. “We now hope that this limitation to 10,000 fans will be the starting point for a dynamic development in the coming weeks. As a result, the urgent application submitted to the OVG Münster has been settled for the moment.”
Friday in front of 3000 fans
Bayer Leverkusen’s sporting director Simon Rolfes is pleased that the atmosphere in Dortmund on Sunday is brighter again. “That motivates the players incredibly. And that’s a sign of the direction things can go in the next few months. We have such beautiful stadiums in Germany, they need more spectators than just a few hundred,” said Rolfes.
For Hertha, however, the easing comes too late. According to the health administration, the Berlin Senate will probably not deal with the issue until next Tuesday. But Hertha has to play against VfL Bochum on Friday. In the last home game against FC Bayern Munich, 3,000 fans were allowed into the stadium.
At the last Corona conference on January 24, the federal and state governments decided that uniform rules should be agreed by February 9. As a result, however, in Bavaria, for example, up to 10,000 people were allowed to be admitted at a maximum of 25 percent of the total capacity. The rules also differ significantly in other federal states.
Strict Corona regulations
Bundesliga soccer club RB Leipzig also went to court in Saxony, but the state government then raised the viewer limit from the previous 1,000 fans. Shortly before the decision of the state and senate chancellery, the Federal Ministry of the Interior also spoke out in favor of a uniform regulation on Wednesday “that adequately takes into account the ongoing requirements of the pandemic”.
The resolution also contains strict corona requirements. “For major national events, the obligation to wear at least one medical mask applies,” it says. “In addition, based on the respective state regulations, specifications for protection and hygiene concepts, admission management and distance regulations and, if necessary, further protective measures are taken.” The organization of major national events is only permitted with the specifications of the 2G rule or 2G Plus rule.
According to the protocol declaration, the federal states of Bavaria, Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt announced that they “wanted to deviate slightly within the framework of their regulations”. Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania noted that it was “the opinion that the planned framework should not be exhausted in the current phase of the pandemic”.