German football has been put on hold until further notice due to the coronavirus pandemic. DFB general secretary Dr. Friedrich Curtius commented on the effects of the pandemic during an ARD interview. DFB.de has summarized his comments.
Dr. Friedrich Curtius on…
...the possible cancellation of Germany’s match against Spain on 26th March: I have not received any official notice as of yet. Things have been evolving very quickly over the last few days. We are in regular contact with our colleagues at the Spanish football federation. We would be playing in Spain, but as of yesterday, the country has declared a state of emergency. Following that, I cannot imagine that a match will take place in Spain in just two weeks.
...potential DFB measures affecting the 3. Liga, the women’s and youth Bundesliga: We’ve been following the spread of the coronavirus for the past two and a half weeks. This past week, we noticed that the virus was becoming ever more present. On Tuesday, we decided to postpone the 3. Liga. A decision like that is not taken lightly, because of the impacts on all those involved. We also communicated that we want to implement programs aimed at helping to assist clubs and the leagues to secure liquidity. We are working on that and will present our executive committee with our decisions. We are well aware of what responsibilities the DFB has in this regard.
...what could happen during the upcoming weeks: It’s very difficult to look ahead and say with any certainty what will happen. You have to be prudent when facing these problems. Whether it will be two, six or eight months without football is up in the air. It’s a total unknown. We’re also thinking about those scenarios in which we aren’t able to resume playing as planned after Easter. We’re acting very responsibly and diligently.
...amateur football: Our president Fritz Keller took a big step on Friday by postponing 80,000 matches scheduled to take place that weekend in Germany. The previous evening, our chancellor had recommended that people practice social distancing by avoiding contact with others - something that is a key part of football. We are all assuming that things will continue in this manner for several months. We need to stick together as a society and take our responsibilities vis a vis one another seriously. That starts on an individual basis, then extends to football clubs and all the way up to the Bundesliga, politics and various businesses. We all need to do our part in order to weather this crisis. In a time of crisis, the most important thing is to remain unified. Only then will we be able to get through this crisis.
...the potential postponement of EURO 2020: I cannot imagine that the opening match of the EUROs will take place on 12th June in Rome. But, UEFA are the organisers of this tournament. They are the organisation that needs to give us answers, which they will do. I’m counting on the tournament being postponed, but we will certainly know more on Tuesday. In a situation such as this, we need to work together and defer to one another in order to find solutions, because otherwise, we will not be able to resume league play in an orderly and regulated manner. This is all taking place within the special challenge of not knowing when we will be able to return to playing normally. There are many questions that we cannot answer at the moment.
...concerns from the players: I’m in contact with various national team members who also want to know what will happen with the EUROs. I spoke with Joachim Low on Friday and he also had the same questions. First and foremost, they are all people who are concerned and are wondering when they will be able to take part in normal human life once again. None of us know when that will be. This virus is a new and unknown challenge for all of us. We need to stick together as a society. If that’s the case, then I’m certain we will be able to defeat this virus.
