XtraTime Web Desk: Football at last returns with a sigh of relief for the first time since the coronavirus outbreak but not at all in its usual fashion. From social distancing substitutes using airport stairs, to disinfected balls and a potential television audience of one billion, the Bundesliga enjoyed a chequered restart as the first major sports league to resume amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Dortmund maintained the distancing on the scoreline as well with a 4-0 win.
The German top two divisions, suspended since mid-March due to the virus, returned on Saturday, including the Bundesliga’s showcase — the Ruhr valley derby between Borussia Dortmund and Schalke 04 — as football-starved fans around the globe tuned in to watch live action.
Despite the possible global audience of a billion as predicted by Bayern Munich boss Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, and the hope it gave other sports leagues, it was not what fans had been hoping for.
Instead of the 81,000 crowd packing in Dortmund’s Signal Iduna Park, it was a mere 300 people, including players, staff, team officials, broadcasters and security personnel, as in every stadium as part of a strict health protocol.
Fans have also been banned from inside and around the venues to minimise the risk of infection.
Every shout, scream and thud of the ball bounced off the concrete tribunes and was picked up by the pitchside microphones to create a haunting atmosphere.
In Dortmund, Europe’s biggest standing tribune, the Yellow Wall stood impressively empty as the latest episode of the fiercest German football rivalry unfolded on the pitch.
The game sounded more like Sunday kickabouts or high-intensity training sessions than the return to action of highly-paid professionals in the world’s best attended football league with normally an average of about 42,000 spectators per game.
Each and every player had to test negative for Covid-19 in order to be able to be selected, meaning the gap between them was just added safety measures.
And sticking to further guidelines, the substitutes all wore face masks to further ensure their safety.
Fans were still left confused at the sight of the players social distancing, considering they have likely all been training together.
One supporter tweeted: “Dortmund subs sitting apart with masks on. Football in 2020 is odd.”
The players weren’t sitting the usual dugout due to the seats being too close together, as they were instead forced to sit in the front row in the stands.