Virologist Prof. Jonas Schmidt-Chanasit of the Bernhard-Nocht-Institute does not believe in a continuation of the season, and he does not see ghost games as a solution either.
Virologist Prof. Jonas Schmidt-Chanasit of the Bernhard-Nocht-Institute in Hamburg does not believe that football will soon be played again in Germany due to the corona crisis.
“You have to say goodbye to it. It is not realistic that the season can be brought to an end,” Schmidt-Chanasit told the NDR sports club.
Officially, the Bundesliga is suspended until at least April 2, but this deadline is likely to be extended several times. But Werder Bremen’s managing director Klaus Filbry, for example, also assumes in the SZ interview that at least there will be no games before May. After all: The postponement of the European Championship by one year creates space in the summer, the English Premier League has already extended its break until 30 April. And yet all efforts might not be enough in the end in view of the ongoing corona pandemic.
Schmidt-Chanasit: Ghost games no solution
Particularly in view of crisis countries such as Italy, the scientist considers it impossible that the ball will be rolling again in German stadiums in the near future. “We can see what the situation in Europe is like and what we still have to face,” he said.
“And even if it doesn’t hit us that badly, that doesn’t mean that football can start again. Because that would of course lead to a significant worsening of the situation again,” he warned, painting a gloomy picture: “That means that we are certainly talking about a period that can be achieved next year at the earliest.
Schmidt-Chanasit does not consider ghost games, as preferred by clubs in terms of financial survival, to be a solution.
“Ghost games would also tempt people to meet and look together again,” he said. In returning to social normality, fun events would have to “come right at the end – especially those where there is a potential for people to want to meet.