Bundesliga: Here’s what’s next for the Bundesliga from 16 May

The Bundesliga resumes its season on 16 May. The 36 professional clubs decided on Thursday at the general meeting of the German Football League (DFL) to continue the game as stipulated by the federal and state governments only in the second half of May and not already on 15 May, as previously decided by the Presidium.

With these pairings it continues on 16 May in the Bundesliga:

The first match day since the break ends on Monday evening (8.30 pm) with the encounter between Werder Bremen and Bayer Leverkusen. In doing so, the DFL is also taking into account the fact that Werder Bremen was one of the last clubs to start team training due to political decisions, said DFL boss Christian Seifert.

The 34th and thus last match day is currently scheduled for the last weekend of June on the 27th and 28th. On June 30, the contracts of professional players usually expire. It is still unclear when the DFB Cup Final will take place. This is a matter for the German Football Association (DFB), which would also have to find a date for the semi-final pairings.

The second wave of tests at the 36 clubs, which took place earlier in the week, also revealed two more Covid-19 infections, DFL chief Seifert announced. In the first test last Thursday, there were ten cases in 1724 investigations, three of them at 1. FC Köln. Part of the security concept of the DFL is to regularly test all players, club employees and also members of the professionals (on a voluntary basis). The DFL estimates at least 25,000 tests until the end of the season in the Bundesliga and the second division, and it will bear the costs for this.

Fifa recently proposed increasing the transfer quota from three to five players. However, the international rule-keepers have yet to accept Fifa’s proposal. Should this happen, the DFL wants to take over it for the further operation of the game. Sports scientists consider this to be a good solution to protect players from overburdendue due to shortened team training (read more here).

Referee not yet tested

Before you start, all teams must go into a one-week quarantine. Politicians had made this measure and adherence to strict hygiene rules a condition for a seasonal continuation.

The referees and assistantreferees of the Bundesliga have not yet been tested for Covid-19 – but that should change quickly. “The DFB responsible for this has informed us that it is taking the implementation of our concept into our hands and is carrying out appropriate tests,” Seifert said. According to the DFL concept, the referees should be tested early in the morning on the day before the game they are in charge.