DFL reminds Bundesliga players to respect goal celebration guidelines during matches

The proactive measures taken in Germany and the continued efforts from the DFL have made it possible for Bundesliga matches to be able to resume last weekend. Clubs in Germany’s top flight have done well adhering to the guidelines put into place by the DFL and their medical task force, but there were a few slight mishaps in match week 26 with goal celebrations.

Per a report by kicker, the DFL has issued a reminder to clubs ahead of match week 27 to respect the guidelines for goal celebrations to help mitigate risk where they absolutely can. This comes just less than a week after Hertha Berlin’s Dedryck Boyata and Borussia Monchengladbach’s broke protocol during their respective goal celebrations last weekend en route to their wins. DFL CEO Christian Seifert and director of football affairs Ansgar Schwenken had applauded the league as a whole for how well they had followed all of the guidelines that were enforced and they “express[ed] praise and heartfelt thanks” for the collective effort put forth.

However, Seifert and Schwenken also addressed the goal celebration incidents from last weekend by saying there’s still room for improvement in the department. They asked that players do their best to remember to abstain from hugs and/or facial contact during celebrations: “We see potential for improvement above all in the goal celebration, which, with all understanding of emotions, should take place temporarily without hugs and face contact.”

Photo by Arne Dedert/Pool/Getty Images

For match week 27, a lot of players and staff members will be travelling away from where they played their previous match, which essentially means they’ll be moving to a different, isolated environment. As this happens, the DFL has reminded everyone to do what they can to keep external contact to a minimum if they can: “External contact is to be limited to the absolute minimum and, if it is unavoidable, only taking into account the protective measures (distance, hygiene, Mouth-nose covering).”

For Bayern Munich, ahead of the Union Berlin match last weekend, sporting director Hasan Salihamidzic had addressed the squad asking them to follow strict guidelines. He asked they only leave domestic quarantine environments for urgently necessary errands and keeping a list of people they come into close contact with outside of the team.