The current corona situation is also likely to have a significant impact on German professional sport. The federal-state consultations on Thursday could result in serious changes.
2G, 2Gplus or even the return of ghost games? German sport is nervous. If the federal and state governments decide on new measures to combat the corona pandemic on Thursday, there are likely to be far-reaching changes. Even the specter of exclusion from viewers, as recently decreed in Holland, is once again hanging over German sport before the Prime Minister’s Conference.
“The danger is real. It all seems to start all over again, like last year,” said handball boss Frank Bohmann to SID. The HBL managing director does not currently see such a restriction, but this scenario is “inevitably also” dealt with. And, according to Stefan Holz, developments in basketball are also observed “with concern”. Even if the BBL had to “come to terms with whatever spectator regulations might come”, Holz emphasized that “renewed ghost games are not negotiable”.
In the executive floors of the German top sports associations, it is certain that politicians will make a mandatory 2G regulation for spectators at their eagerly awaited Corona summit. In other words, if you want to watch a game from your club live in the arena, you either have to be vaccinated or have recovered.
2G is to be introduced nationwide in North Rhine-Westphalia – for all leisure activities and also for football events. The North Rhine-Westphalian Prime Minister Henrik Wüst (CDU) made a corresponding announcement on Tuesday. From when the order will take effect is still unclear.
Basketball pros: “Certainly it won’t get better”
While such a requirement is “not a big issue” for handball players in Bohmann’s opinion, “because even now only a tiny proportion of the audience does not meet 2G”, the basketball players are skeptical of the issue. “If there are now further tightenings, it will certainly not get better,” said Holz to the SID. Fans are currently “very hesitant” with the inconsistent 2G or 3G solution.
The central associations agree on their position on a possible 2Gplus regulation, in which negative tests would be mandatory for all visitors in addition to full vaccination protection or recovery. “That would mean a significant problem,” says Bohmann. It would “presumably mean that a large number of spectators would no longer come. The question arises as to whether the high expenditure is then even worth it.”
In addition, Bohmann believes 2Gplus is not an appropriate measure, “because it ignores the actual problem. The high hospitalization rate, as all the figures show, is primarily a problem for the unvaccinated. With a nationwide 2G we would take this fact fully into account” , says the 57-year-old. He considers additional testing obligations “appropriate and effective in areas with vulnerable people such as old people’s homes and hospitals”.
DOSB: “Do not repeat the mistakes of the previous year”
The German Olympic Sports Confederation (DOSB) went one step further on Tuesday and put the athletes in the center of the discussion about the measures to be expected. In a statement, the umbrella organization for German sports expressly called for a “guarantee of movement”. “The mistake of the previous year, when the extensive closure of gaming and sports facilities and the contact restrictions condemned around 27 million members of sports clubs and all other people in Germany to immobility, should not be repeated,” said DOSB President Alfons Hörmann.
For the umbrella organization of German sport, children and young people in particular should be “privileged in all measures”. The DOSB calls for an “outdoor sports guarantee for everyone”. Means: “More than one 3G rule (vaccinated, recovered or tested) must therefore not apply to outdoor sports.” 2G makes sense in sports halls.
