Record COVID-19 rates ban fans from stadiums in Germany

With COVID-19 reaching record highs in Germany, the pandemic is once again having a negative effect on the Bundesliga. There have been a number of developments in the past few days about what to do with fans in the stadiums, and it looks like things are getting clearer.

For starters, the country as a whole has announced a nationwide lockdown for any unvaccinated individuals. This means that people who have not been vaccinated will be banned from pretty much everything, except essential businesses like supermarkets and pharmacies. The German federal government is also looking to make vaccination mandatory in the coming months.

So how does this affect football in Germany? Well, per a report from Kicker, the state leaders have decided to open stadiums by 50% capacity, but only if said capacity does not exceed 15,000 fans.

But in Bayern Munich’s case, the situation gets worse. Some states are going a step further and completely closing the stadiums to fans for football games. These states currently include the likes of Bavaria, Saxony, and Baden-Württemberg. In other words, Bayern will have to play behind closed doors again for the foreseeable future. Whether other states will follow suit, remains to be seen.

As captured by Sportbuzzer, the decision to ban fans from stadiums in Bavaria has been made final, and will be signed off the following day. This affects clubs like Bayern, FC Augsburg, and Greuther Fürth, and will stand until at least the end of the year. The decision comes barely a month after Bayern welcomed back a full house of fans for the first time in well over a year and a half against SC Freiburg.

In extreme cases, as per a Bild report, games could be suspended altogether in states with particularly high infection rates. While there is no further information available regarding this rumor, it is certainly nothing to take lightly. If push comes to shove, an entire shutdown of the Bundesliga may not be so far-fetched.