A date of May 09th has been pencilled in for a return to action.
German chancellor Angela Merkel has stated that a decision over a resumption of sporting activities will take place on May 6th.
Clubs desperately need a return
Despite the health concerns, (Germany has had 160,00 reported cases of COVID-19 and 6,300 deaths) clubs are desperate to restart the campaign, as there is a major fear that some clubs may go under without a new restart.
Just like most leagues in Europe, the Bundesliga depends on revenue from television companies and sponsorship. A failure to return to action could lead to breaches of contract, which may prove highly costly to many top-flight clubs. Dortmund CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke recently stated that most German clubs cannot afford for the league to stay in a state of limbo for much longer.
Germany has seemingly handled the virus well
Reports suggest that Germany has handled the COVID-19 pandemic well compared to other countries. Very few countries on the planet have not been hit by the virus. However, on simple numbers, the country has endured fewer deaths than Spain, Italy and England, while also seeing one of the highest recovery rates amongst the European nations.
There is an argument that football should not curtail the 2019/20 season throughout Europe. France and the Netherlands have already called time on their top leagues. If there is a league in Europe that has a chance of completion then it seems to be the Bundesliga.
Bundesliga be an example for the Premier League
The UK government are highly keen to restart the Premier League campaign in the near future, despite the country still having pretty strict restrictions on movement due to the pandemic.
When, or if the Bundesliga restarts then the officials at the Premier League and indeed the British government may well use the example for what is now tagged ‘project restart’.
Will the Bundesliga restart their campaign on 9th May?
