Bundesliga restart in doubt after FC Cologne reports coronavirus infections

The club has reported of three individuals that have emerged COVID-19 positive.

The potential resumption of the German Bundesliga has now come under serious concerns. This is after their top-flight club, FC Cologne, reported having three individuals which were found positive for coronavirus. This revelation has cast serious doubts whether it is a safe idea to restart any sort of footballing action during the coronavirus pandemic. 

Bundesliga was stated to restart in the first week of May, pending approval from the German government. However, any decision on the matter had been further delayed by the authorities by another week. 

FC Cologne has mentioned that all three cases of individuals are without symptoms and have been sent into 14-day quarantine. The names of the individuals were kept under the wraps for privacy concerns. It is being speculated by Karl Lauterbach, that two players and a staff member have caught the virus. Karl is a senior lawmaker with the Social Democrats, junior partners in Angela Merkel’s coalition government.

He took to Twitter to express his concerns regarding the whole matter. He said that, “The rest of the squad continues to train. Whoever trains with Covid-19 risks damage to lung, heart and kidneys,”

The fact that Cologne has not stopped training altogether instead of putting the whole squad into precautionary quarantine has also come under scrutiny by Lauterbach, who is also a professor of health economics and epidemiology. He further added in that regard by saying that, “I am surprised that players are allowing this. Football should be a model example and not ‘bread and games’.”

With the rate of infections and deaths dropping in the nation, some Bundesliga clubs have allowed their players to come back to training, albeit in small groups while keeping social distancing measures in mind. However, they will have to wait for any confirmation by the government authorities regarding the resumption of the Bundesliga. 

While the clubs hope for the league to restart to recover some of the financial losses arising out of the suspension due to the pandemic, it remains to be seen if the authorities will be convinced of the safety measures and give the green light, especially after the recent reports of coronavirus cases from FC Cologne.

Apparently, the German Football League aims to finish the season by June 30 and has submitted a health safety plan which suggests that the games be played without the spectators and has proposed regular testing of players as well. However, there is no mention of whole squads going into quarantine in case of positive tests to coronavirus are reported.

This could potentially put the lives and health of the players and their close ones in jeopardy. It remains to be seen if all players will be in agreement with the resumption of the Bundesliga so soon when Germany has reported over 162,000 positive cases and 6500 deaths due to coronavirus.

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