•Although Bundesliga clubs have returned to training in small groups, the league has been suspended since mid-March due to the coronavirus pandemic
•The cash-strapped clubs and league are desperate to resume play as soon as possible, even without spectators,
German Interior Minister Horst Seehofer on Sunday backed a possible restart for the Bundesliga season this month without spectators as the government prepares for a key meeting next week.
Although Bundesliga clubs have returned to training in small groups, the league has been suspended since mid-March due to the coronavirus pandemic and the government is to decide next week on a potential resumption of sports activities.
The German Football League (DFL), eager for a quick restart, has submitted a health safety plan for games without spectators which includes regular testing of players but no quarantine for entire squads in cases of positive tests.
“I find the time frame of the German Football League plausible and I support a restart in May,” Seehofer told Bild newspaper. “But for me it is also clear that there should be no extra privileges for the league.”
He also said he was in favour of full team quarantine in cases of positive test, something that is not planned in the DFL blueprint. “But I am in favour of trying to attempt to play again,” he said.
The cash-strapped clubs and league are desperate to resume play as soon as possible, even without spectators, so the season can contractually finish by June 30.
Germany has suffered over 6,600 deaths from coronavirus with more than 162,00 people infected.
In Belgrade, Players will need at least four weeks to regain match fitness once coronavirus lockdown measures are lifted and they are able to resume training, Partizan Belgrade coach Savo Milosevic said.
The 46-year-old former Yugoslavia striker, who scored 37 goals in 102 internationals and won the 1996 English League Cup with Aston Villa, pointed out that a return to normal training would be gradual.
“We will train in groups of nine, keeping in line with the government’s measures,” Milosevic told Serbia’s Prva television.
“That means players will have to be a mandatory two metres apart at all times. There will be no team lunch or other gatherings before or after training.
“The pandemic has had a crippling effect. Players have been idle for two months now and they will need at least four weeks to get back into shape, otherwise there is a big danger of injuries when the season eventually resumes.”
Serbian clubs are to resume training on Monday, when the Balkan nation’s government is to ease a set of measures introduced to curb the COVID-19 virus.