Managing Director Hans-Joachim Watzke from the Bundesliga club Borussia Dortmund has criticized the refusal of the federal and state governments to open the football stadiums to spectators in clear words and is even considering legal action.
“We will take a close look at the decisions of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia and check whether we can have them checked in an urgent procedure,” said Watzke of the German Press Agency.
It was “bitter that after two years the majority of MPK participants only thought about bans and not also about a minimum of possibilities and logical decisions,” explained Watzke: “Almost three quarters of Germans are vaccinated. For months there have been sufficient vaccination offers for every single citizen in this country. We now know a lot more about Omikron. Nevertheless, we sometimes allow almost 90 percent of the capacity indoors and only 750 people in outdoor stadiums. People are locked out in the open air. It’s not proportionate, it’s not science either, no one understands it anymore.”
There are always complaints that football has special rights in Germany. «The opposite is the case. Football falls victim to symbolic politics,” said Watzke. The federal and state governments had ruled out the easing of corona requirements on Monday in view of the increasing infections. This means that the professional leagues in football, handball, basketball or ice hockey are largely ghost games. In North Rhine-Westphalia, 750 spectators were last allowed. (dpa)