After a video conference with state governors, German Chancellor Merkel held a press conference and announced that she agreed to restart the Bundesliga in the second half of May. With the approval of the German government, the Bundesliga became the league that announced the suspension of the five major leagues at the latest and the opening of the tournament at the same time during the epidemic.

In terms of results, the Bundesliga is not the most outstanding of the five leagues; In terms of financial resources, the revenue and brand value of Bundesliga are far lower than those of the Premier League and La Liga; In terms of football stars, the Bundesliga is also not a star studded place. But why is it the Bundesliga that first sounded the rally call for the restoration of football order?

European clean-up: confidence in Germany's ultra-low mortality rate

After the COVID-19 epidemic began to rage in Europe, countries used different ways to carry out epidemic prevention. In the context of the shortage of medical care measures in Italy and the implementation of mass immunization in the United Kingdom, Germany's relatively rich medical resources have helped greatly in epidemic prevention. At present, Germany has nearly 170000 confirmed cases, but the death toll is only more than 7000, and more than 130000 newly crowned patients have recovered. Compared with Italy's 180000 confirmed deaths of more than 20000 people, Germany's mortality rate is "extraordinary" in Europe.

As early as 2013, the German government had prepared an adequate emergency plan for possible public health events. After the outbreak of COVID-19, a whole set of procedures were launched, and the work of the whole organization was carried out in an orderly manner.

Germany's sound medical system is also conducive to helping patients recover. According to the statistics of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the number of beds in intensive care units in Germany is about 34 for every 100000 people, four times that of Italy. Draeger, the ventilator manufacturer, and other German enterprises are also easy for the government to require enterprises to increase production. In addition, the infected population in Germany at the initial stage is mainly young people, and most young people in Germany live independently, which has greatly controlled the rise of mortality.

It is reported that the epidemic prevention proposal given by DFL also includes the option of regular nucleic acid testing for players. At present, the carrying capacity of nucleic acid detection in Germany is 550000 person times per week, which can basically meet the detection needs of the Bundesliga semi-finals, and this is one of the reasons why the Bundesliga teams have the confidence to bear the risk of the semi-finals.

Survival crisis: small and medium-sized teams can't afford to wait

Since the suspension of the Bundesliga, the estimation of league losses has never stopped. The German media said that if the Bundesliga finally cut back this season, the loss of the Bundesliga would be at least 700 million euros. At present, the Bundesliga side has also negotiated with broadcasters. After the game starts again, DFL will soon receive a broadcasting fee of about 27-28 million euros, which can be said to be an urgent matter for many small and medium-sized teams.

It is a fact that small and medium-sized teams in Germany lack foreign investment. In the context of "50+1", they basically do not have investment support. Most of their income comes from tickets during the game and sales of goods on the court. After the game is suspended, their source of funds is cut off, and workers and players are forced to reduce or suspend their salaries. According to statistics, if this broadcasting fund is not in place, as many as 13 Bundesliga and Bundesliga teams will face a serious survival crisis.

However, it is worth mentioning that even if the club can get this emergency fund, after the start of the future game, the clubs without tickets and other marketing income will still face long-term financial pressure until August 31 (the German government stipulates that no large-scale activities can be held before this date). The second round of the Bundesliga can alleviate the temporary urgency, but the empty match is still not a long-term solution.

The team prepared early+epidemic prevention measures were in place

In view of the relatively stable epidemic prevention situation in Germany, the Bundesliga teams have already resumed training after April 5 as required. Although the players still need to be grouped in the training, and can not conduct confrontation training, it is really an important prerequisite for the restart of the league.

The whole German people are relatively serious about epidemic prevention. After Merkel's televised speech, most Germans also stay at home honestly. After the team's re training, each club has done enough security measures, such as the players should enter the locker room in batches, and after the training, the players can only go home to take a bath, etc. On the first day of Bayern's training, Toliso and Koeman, two old French buddies who had been separated for a long time, were extremely excited to meet again and directly came to a big hug. As a result, they were admonished by Bayern's team.

At present, the 18 Bundesliga teams have resumed training for two weeks. Although the intensity cannot reach the level before the epidemic, it also marks that the team is gradually returning to the right track at the competitive level. In terms of time, the resumption of the game one month after the resumption of training also gave the team enough buffer and recovery time.

At present, all teams in the Bundesliga have started to look for isolation hotels. The team will stay in the hotel one week before the start of the game, and during this period, they will be completely isolated from the outside world to ensure that the players are not threatened by infection to the greatest extent, so that they can carry out physical confrontation training as soon as possible to meet the intensity of the game.

The return of the Bundesliga is a boost for fans to fight the epidemic

Earlier, Governor Saud of Bavaria said when expressing his idea of resuming the game: "Maybe the open game can be resumed from the 9th, but it also needs protection. The open game is a balance point for all parties."

"It's a tough decision, but it's easier to bear the weekend with football than the weekend without it."

This sentence also reflects the important spiritual significance of football for the current German society and the world - as the world's first sport, as the most ardent belief in the hearts of countless people, football's return to life is also a great spiritual boost for people to fight the epidemic.

When talking about the possible rematch, Dortmund CEO Wattsk also said very affectionately: "We are responsible to the society. We all know the significance of football for real life. It is very important that millions of fans can watch TV together in the living room to burn enthusiasm."

For millions of people in the world who love football and sports, the past two months have been too difficult. The number of confirmed cases rose like an exponential explosion, people fell into the fear of infecting the new championship, and were forced to isolate, give up social contact and stay away from the loneliness of relatives and friends... All kinds of negative emotions add up, this society needs spiritual medicine like the German Bundesliga rematch to heal the soul, especially when the domestic epidemic prevention situation in Germany is improving and the German Bundesliga team has an urgent need for the rematch, This is precisely the most appropriate time for football to re enter people's lives.

For some dark 2020, the Bundesliga's decision to make the semi-finals is like a ray of light. The earth warms up and everything recovers. We all need more consolation for this world full of bruises.