Football’s road back from the coronavirus pandemic is starting to take shape. COVID-19 has impacted the world on a scale that has hardly been seen in human history. Each country has made seismic decisions postponing many of the things that bring joy to everyday life. One of the largest entertainment industries hit has been world-sport, and the world’s sport of football.
The Coronavirus Road Back is Not Easy
The Situation
It’s been over 45 days since the last of the European leagues shut up shop to ride out the virus. Some countries, like Germany and Spain, are starting to build the road back, but it doesn’t look easy. Meanwhile, the Dutch have cancelled their season throwing into question what a return to football will look like.
Football’s break in action has already claimed plenty of peoples’ jobs and livelihoods. It has already led plenty of employees being furloughed.
While UEFA has made it clear they want the current season to be finished, that won’t be the case everywhere. But there will be two major European leagues in France and England watching each situation, waiting to see how they should proceed.
So let’s look at the leagues that are taking decisions already. There are benefits to what they are doing, but being the world’s guinea pigs does not come without issue.
The Dutch Eredivisie
Let’s start with the Netherlands, the country who has taken the most drastic decision so far. The Eredivisie has declared their season null-and-void. No champion, no relegation, no promotion, almost like it hadn’t even happened. This decision came shortly after the Dutch government declared that all sporting activities, including football, would be suspended until September 1st.
The Dutch government’s decision to suspend sports until September 1st is easily the most drastic sporting decision taken so far. In the context of just football, it is certainly a surprise. We’re not even two weeks removed from UEFA issuing its guidelines and suggestions for countries to restart their league. UEFA has made it clear that they wanted countries to finish the season’s they started or they could face penalties.
This decision has not come without plenty of internal criticism. Ajax star Hakim Ziyech called the decision “Bullshit.” The Morrocan international will now move to Chelsea for the next season without getting a chance to play his final game in Amsterdam. Then there is the case of FC Utrecht.
The club has already announced that they plan to challenge the Dutch FA decision in court. And the messiness might not stop there either. Second division club Cambuur are really angry after they were denied promotion by the decision. Their coach has called the decision the “greatest disgrace in Dutch sport,” leading many to believe they may challenge the decision as well.
The German Bundesliga
At the other end of the spectrum, we find the Bundesliga. Germany’s premier footballing competition is all set to return to action thanks to a number of interesting factors. Firstly, the German government and health organizations have done a fantastic job keeping Germany’s coronavirus death percentages near the lowest in the world.
Which paved the road for Bundesliga clubs to return to training despite the ongoing coronavirus. And with a possible restart date set somewhere between May 9th and 19th. But according to the Deputy Chairman of the German Police Trade Union, they may be coming back too soon.
“Maybe it is possible to control what is happening in the stadium. This does not apply to the public space in front of it. The stadiums become a potential target for fans who want to support their team…Games behind closed doors are a danger, even if the organiser does everything in the stadium to ensure that hygiene regulations are observed in order to keep the risk of infection as low as possible.”
This is going to be a real concern for all of the leagues restarting. Before the break, a Champions League game between Paris Saint Germain and Borussia Dortmund were played behind closed doors. And before the game was over about eight thousand PSG fans had gathered outside the stadium to celebrate.
Human’s cooped up for over a month are going to need to get out. But the toughest task for the German police force during this restart will be keeping crowds from gathering outside the stadiums.
Spain And Italy
The two countries hit the hardest by the coronavirus, Italy and Spain, have also begun their roads back. Serie A has announced that they plan to open training facilities to individual sessions starting on May 4th. If that goes well then it should see clubs begin full training sessions by around the 18th of May.
Spain has also begun taking the measures to return, but they have not been without hiccups. The Spanish FA and La Liga had devised a plan to quarantine players and test them for a return. The Spanish Players Association came out against this idea. They do not believe they should be tested before frontline medical personnel. The government agreed with the players and La Liga is once again on hold.
It’s important to state that both of these leagues are now in the hands of their countries’ governments. If things continue to improve in Italy then the plan for Serie A in place will go into effect. La Liga will have to wait until the Spanish Government allows them to test their players before they can start working towards a restart.
What About England and France?
So what should England or France do? The English Premier League seems to have a new leaked report every week about how they plan to proceed. Sometimes it’s cancelling the season, others it’s quarantine training camps without contact for a month.
But the leaders at the English FA and the French FA are trying to take steps in accordance with the other leagues. Both are planning for Mid-May returns to training and hopefully, mid-to-late June returns to games, according to reporting from the AFP and Sky Sports.
The Road Back from Coronavirus
What has been made clear by looking at each of these countries plans is that no one is sure how this will go. There will be places around the world where football’s return will be lauded and celebrated. And like the German Police Deputy said, that could bring a whole host of other problems.
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