There are only two choices left for the Bundesliga, either give up the season or stick to the “Ghost Race”.
Xinhua News Agency, Berlin, April 16 issue: News analysis: the demand for the Bundesliga to restart the “ghost match” is fierce
Xinhua News Agency reporter Liu Wei
affected by the outbreak of the new Crown pneumonia, Bundesliga, the German and B Professional Football League has been suspended for more than a month. In the past few days, the call for restarting the league has become higher and higher, accompanied by many doubts.
On the one hand, the German federal government and the state government intend to gradually resume public life after May 3, so that football people can see hope; On the other hand, the government announced that large-scale activities are not allowed before the end of August, the target points to exhibitions, concerts and sports competitions, which also makes it impossible for fans to enter the competition. There are only two choices left for the Bundesliga, either give up the season or stick to the “Ghost Race”.
Support for restarting the league mainly includes the following points: first, the epidemic has been initially alleviated. The latest data from the German CDC Robert Koch Institute on the 16th showed that the total number of confirmed cases in the new Crown exceeded 130000, but there were some positive signs. For example, the cumulative number of cured cases was higher than the number of existing cases, the daily new cases showed a downward trend after reaching a high point from April 2, and the mortality rate was kept at a lower level.
After the meeting and discussion between the federal government and the state government on the 15th, it was decided that from 20th day of this month, shops with an area of no more than 800 square meters could resume opening under the premise of meeting the requirements of cleanliness and sanitation, personnel flow restriction, etc. Under the same premise, barber shops and other service industries can resume opening as early as May 4. Primary and secondary schools will gradually resume classes in batches from May 4th.
Although the meeting did not discuss whether the Bundesliga league could be restored, football circles believed that the government was releasing a clear signal that public life could be gradually restored. Football was an important part of German people’s life, it should also be within the scope of consideration.
Secondly, the Bundesliga faces huge economic pressure. The longer the shutdown time, the more serious the survival crisis the alliance and the club face. At present, all Bundesliga clubs have announced that the salaries of players, coaches and management have been reduced. Some Bundesliga clubs and most of the Bundesliga clubs have applied for “short-term allowance” for ordinary employees “.
According to previous reports in German media, 56000 people depend on the Football League to make a living. If this season ends, the Bundesliga will face a loss of 0.75 billion euros, 13 of the 36 clubs in the Bundesliga and Bundesliga league have faced a “bankruptcy crisis” this season “. If this season cannot end before June 30, many players’ contracts will expire and a large number of contract defaults and business negotiations will occur.
Although the “ghost match” can’t let the club get direct income from the stadium, it can guarantee the income from TV broadcasting to the greatest extent. Television broadcasting and commercial sponsorship are the largest share of Bundesliga’s income structure. The copyright fee of the fourth and last phase of this season is about 0.304 billion euros, which should have been paid to the German football professional league on April 10, but the rights-holders have not transferred the money so far, the latest time agreed by both parties is to pay on May 2. If the league cannot be restarted, the Bundesliga faces the risk of supply interruption.
Third, as the public’s understanding of the epidemic continues to deepen and a wider social consensus has been reached in public life, fans may not enter the stadium for quite a long time, there are also more rational and cautious judgments on off-site gathering, and “Ghost Race” has become the most realistic choice instead.
The Bundesliga league has also set up a special medical team to manage the examination of players and club staff, formulate and strengthen preventive measures on the organization of the stadium, keep close communication with relevant experts in organizing competitions and training, and formulate implementation standards and operation guidelines to avoid “ghost competition” becoming a place for virus transmission.
There are also many opposition voices about “Ghost Race”: The first is whether the risk of virus transmission is controllable. “Ghost match” does not mean that there are only 22 people playing football on the lawn in the whole stadium. According to the Bundesliga plan, organize a “ghost match”, and all participants need 239 to 250 people, including players, coach teams, event supervision, team doctors, TV broadcasting teams, text and radio reporters, field caddies, etc. It is impossible to detect viruses for all participants in each competition, which has the potential risk of infection.
The second is the problem of fans gathering outside the stadium. Before the Bundesliga suspension, the game against Cologne at Mensing Gladbach’s home court was staged in the form of “ghost match. A large number of fans gathered outside the stadium, and the team’s “die-hard fans” could hardly refuse the temptation of the scene. If this situation cannot be eliminated, then there is still the possibility of clustering transmission of the virus.
The third is the concern about unfair competition or social injustice caused by the resumption. Due to the different severity of the epidemic in various parts of Germany, there are differences in the restrictive measures in club training between the federal state governments and the state health departments. Some clubs have personnel infection and the whole team has been isolated for a long time, delay a lot of training time; Some clubs are located in the federal states where the epidemic is relatively light, and they are allowed to resume training earlier; Some teams are restricted by the local government and resume training very late.
For another example, will the basketball, handball and volleyball leagues follow the example of the Bundesliga rematch? If sports games are fully restored, will the epidemic rebound? If other leagues cannot recover, why is football an exception?
According to German media reports, in order to ensure the safety of “ghost match”, the league plans to conduct virus detection for players in large quantities and frequently. Some public opinion criticized that Bundesliga’s move would occupy too much medical testing resources, resulting in new social injustice.
The German football professional league will hold a member conference attended by 36 German clubs on April 23. Whether, when and how to restart the “ghost match” will become the main topic.