Drei experiences from reality in the midst of this fourth corona wave: The lantern parade in kindergarten? Canceled weeks ago. The hockey training, outside in small groups, even at temperatures around freezing point? Should go on – but nobody really wants to believe in it anymore. The schools? Should stay open – but nobody wants to give a guarantee for that.
The number of infections has been rising for weeks, the hospitalizations of people suffering from Covid-19 have been increasing, intensive care physicians have complained about a situation that can hardly be managed in some places, the Robert Koch Institute warns of major events and at the same time advises reducing contacts. In addition, there is the uncertainty about the new Omikron variant.
And what about professional football? Acts like he’s buzzing around in a cosmic bubble and real life is none of his business – once again. On Wednesday, the seven-day incidence in Germany rose to over 400 for the first time since the beginning of the pandemic, the German Football League tweeted: “Since the beginning of the corona pandemic, the coordinated line of all 36 clubs has always been to act on the basis of state requirements. “Therefore,” a self-imposed, comprehensive lockdown, “as it is called, is” not an issue “.
A mirror of society?
Not an issue – this general rejection of independent action is nothing more than: frightening in this situation. Even in the first Corona wave, football was always trying to be one step ahead of politics. But there was also something to be won: the resumption of the game, the opening of the stadium gates for the spectators, the return to the million euro drip.
Now empty ranks threaten again. The time has come in Saxony – Leipzig, Dresden and Aue are returning to ghost game mode. In Bavaria too, audience capacity was reduced to a maximum of 25 percent. Why? Because the respective state governments have decided so. Borussia Dortmund, on the other hand, can almost completely fill its stadium: 67,500 spectators can come to the game against Bayern Munich in one week. On Saturday, 50,000 spectators were in Cologne for the derby against Mönchengladbach. Sold out! Insanity!
In terms of competition in the league, all of this is unfair; in terms of the situation in the country, it is negligent. Because even if football is an open-air event, such a happening is far from safe: full underground trains, crowded fans at the stadium gates, masks that are sometimes not worn at all and sometimes at half-mast.
If it is still true that football is a mirror of society, then it becomes clear how serious the situation is: Almost half of the Bundesliga clubs currently have to do without at least one player suffering from Covid-19. The fact that no consequences can be derived from this can only mean one thing: the world of football no longer has anything to do with reality. It has become a case for politicians who should sharpen the rules. Because the pandemic is not an exception for anyone.
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