Coronavirus: Bundesliga unlikely to resume as scheduled, says DFL boss Christian Seifert

Germany’s top two leagues did not play last weekend after matches were suspended

Germany’s Bundesliga and second division are unlikely to resume as scheduled on 3 April due to the coronavirus, Deutsche Fußball Liga​ (DFL) CEO Christian Seifert said on Monday.

Germany’s top two leagues did not play last weekend after matches were suspended because of the outbreak of the virus and Seifert said any decision on the season would be taken in the week of 30 March.

“I want to stress that we do not expect to play on 3 April,” Seifert told a news conference. “This is the most difficult period of our professional lives. We live in a time of extreme uncertainty.

“There are more questions than answers. We have to learn to understand that whatever yesterday was seen as normal at the moment is not so normal any more, and we don t know what to expect after today.”

Seifert said the league would continue to put people’s health as its highest priority, but the longer the pause the greater the pressure on the entire football industry.

“Closed door games could be the only way to survive. But if now people say they reject such games then they should not think about 18 or 20 professional clubs, because there will not be 18 or 20 clubs.

“The biggest revenues are broadcasting and sponsorship and ticket sales. When you don’t have ticket revenues, broadcasting revenues or sponsorship revenues then it is only a matter of time.”

Germany’s Bundesliga has been in strong financial health for a decade and a half, with the top-division clubs generating more than €4 billion in revenue for the first time in its annual report last month, the 15th consecutive year of growth.

“All clubs are developing extreme scenarios given the current financial situation. No one can say when the games will be played again,” Seifert said. “They have to have an overview of how long they can last without games.”

The DFL is in charge of organising the first and second divisions of German football.

Germany has had almost 5,000 people infected and 12 dead from coronavirus.

Reuters