[ad_1]
Joachim Löw prefers to talk about football. Late on Saturday evening in Leipzig, however, the national team manager knew that despite a 3-1 win against Ukraine, football would not be in the foreground. And so he patiently answered questions about Corona and the cancellation of the game discussed beforehand.
“I can understand people’s concerns and thoughts,” Löw said of the four positive test results in the Ukrainian team and criticisms that they may not have reacted appropriately. “But I’m the wrong person to talk to, I’m a coach. We had to adapt to what UEFA or the health department would have decided. I can’t say that the match won’t take place.”
Löw is right about this. Eventually, however, he made things too easy for himself with this statement. Because even at the German Football Association the plan to be able to play the game should have had the highest priority. “We had a fever that there would be no more cases,” said DFB director Oliver Bierhoff before the game on ZDF – and revealed a strange relationship with this pandemic. That Bierhoff, who at the beginning of the week denounced the mood of the young team with his cloudy image, but neglected his role in the general construct.
Travel, play, live – without intense contact
It was a memorable day in Leipzig, which, in all its absurdity, renewed the divided relationship of many observers with the behavior of football leaders in the crown crisis. On Friday evening, 25 hours before kick-off, positive test results in the Ukrainian field were announced. The four players and the concerned supervisor were isolated; with the incubation period specified by the RKI between three and five days, further infections cannot be ruled out. No decision has been made on the refusal.
On Saturday morning, almost twelve hours before kick-off, the health department of the city of Leipzig took care of the follow-up of the contacts. The employees of the office were assured by the Ukrainian side that there should be no intense contact between the infected and the other players in the previous 48 hours. To understand: the Ukrainian team played in Poland last Wednesday, then went together to Leipzig, stayed in a hotel and prepared together for the match against Germany.
Around noon, the city of Leipzig announced its decision not to extend the quarantine to other players via its spokesperson. To be safe, however, another set of tests was agreed. According to Bierhoff, the DFB received at 15:00, six hours before kick-off, the message “that the test results were all negative and this gave us confidence”. An hour and a half later the official confirmation from Uefa arrived: the match should take place.
Uefa wants to go through competitions
The European Football Association plays an important role in this triangle of decision makers. With the clause formulated months ago that every match entrusted to Uefa must be played until twelve players are available on the pitch and a goalkeeper, the association has demonstrated what is more important: not the health of the players, but the fulfillment of the lucrative television contracts (in the Nations League as well as in the Champions League).
The example of the Norwegian national team shows that decisions can be made differently. There was a player who tested positive on the eve of Sunday’s match in Romania, after which the entire team was quarantined by the Norwegian government and the match was forcibly canceled by UEFA.
For DFB doctor Tim Meyer, who was jointly responsible for the hygiene concepts of the DFB and the DFL, the decision in Leipzig is still the right one. “During the game, the risk of infection is still considerably lower than in the environment, which is easier to control,” reads a posted on Twitter. opinion of the doctor. The criticisms of the past few days and weeks – even from the Bundesliga – are expressed less because of the contacts of the players on the pitch. Rather, it is about the increase in travel volume during the international break.
The German national team will play against Spain next Tuesday for victory in the Nations League group. In the Seville risk zone.
[ad_2]
Source link
