Questionable start to life under coronavirus threat

To the delight of many football fans, the Bundesliga made its grand return last weekend in Germany with several exciting games, but witnessing empty stadiums and sterile celebrations is something which we’ll have to get used to.

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Of course, playing inside empty arenas is nothing new for Greek football, with a handful of matches staged behind closed doors every year due to fan violence. Nevertheless, taking into the nature and severity of the current global situation, this does have a different feel. As a consequence of the threat posed by the coronavirus pandemic, teams travel to the stadium on a number of coaches, all substitutes must wear a mask and be kept at a distance from one another, players don’t shake hands when entering the field and hugging between footballers during goal celebrations is not recommended. The fact that players aren’t even permitted to celebrate together threatens to exert a large chunk of the raw emotion out of the game.

Interestingly, though, the German Football Federation has already stated that it will not punish players for hugging when celebrating goals. When you consider that football is very much a contact sport, with players constantly tackling each other and standing in a close wall in order to block free kicks, the celebration guideline really does come across as utterly absurd. The only logical explanation for that ridiculous idea can be that the Germans are trying to set an example for the rest of society.

A lot of the new hygiene regulations, namely the goal celebrations, separation of substitutes and masks, appear to have been designed more for show rather than for genuine hygiene reasons. However, regardless of our feelings on the matter, those particular rules in question are set to be rolled out across all European football leagues. The Super League in Greece is currently in the process of drawing up the medical protocol.

The key part of the health system is the regular testing of players. Greek clubs have tested their footballers on numerous occasions already since training sessions resumed.

On a brighter note, the quality of football in the Bundesliga hasn’t been affected by the lack of fans at the stadiums, with nearly all matches having been played at a high pace with great intensity. Furthermore, players competed with the same amount of passion and desire as usual, even if there were less arguments with the officials. Naturally, games in the Super League aren’t played at such a ferocious tempo as in Germany, but emotions always run high.

The increasing of available substitutions from three to five is a wise decision. As a consequence of the long break and short preparation period, players are more susceptible to receive potentially serious injuries, which consequently means that more substitutions are required in order to protect their health. FIFA has approved the proposal of having five substitutions for each team per game for at least the remainder of the 2019/2020 campaign.

Following a conference on Monday, Super League teams unanimously agreed to begin the playoffs and playouts on the weekend of June 6-7, pending state approval. Deputy Greek Minister of Culture and Sport, Lefteris Avgenakis, has confirmed that all remaining matches of the 2019/2020 season will be played behind closed doors, and that aspect might have a big bearing on the results considering the atmosphere which Hellenic supporters are capable of creating. We can expect to see similar health regulations to the ones used in Germany.

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