German Bundesliga has given a green light to the fans to attend the 2021-22 season live from the stadiums with an audience cap of 25,000. It has also been decided by the authorities that COVID-19 tests or full vaccination will be required before entering the stadiums.
A meeting was held between the leaders of 16 federal states on Tuesday regarding the plans to reopen sporting venues with a limited audience. The state government may regulate the number of audiences in accordance with the COVID-19 situation in their respective state.
If seven-day COVID-19 infection rates increase up to 35 per 100,000 inhabitants then the venues will not be able to welcome more than 5000 fans.
Necessary precautions like face masks and social distancing norms through pod seating are to be followed at the stadiums and the initial guidelines will be set till September 11 and after that, the COVID-19 restriction may get relaxed if the situation improves in future.
Michael Müller, the Governing Mayor of Berlin, said, “We have achieved nationwide success in combating the corona pandemic. This is shown by the low number of infections and the positive development of the vaccination campaign.”
Muller also revealed that they are planning to allow spectators to attend major cultural events across the country. He also said that the people must be careful as the virus is mutating and the pandemic is not over yet.
Meanwhile, Bayern Munich’s home stadium Allianz Arena allowed 14,000 fans for the Euro 2020 matches. The stadium has a capacity of 75,000 and it hosted three group stage games and also hosted the quarter-final game between Italy and Belgium which resulted in the favour of Italians.
Bundesliga stadiums also allowed a limited number of crowds to attend the final few matches of the 2020-21 season as Borussia Dortmund’s Signal Iduna Park also welcomed 10,500 fans at their stadium.
The new Bundesliga season will commence from August 13th and the first game would be between Borussia Monchengladbach and Bayern Munich at Borussia Park.