Serie A and Bundesliga plot returns

The organisers of the top football leagues in Italy and Germany are plotting their respective comebacks according to local reports.

Both Italy’s Serie A and Germany’s Bundesliga have been suspended indefinitely, along with every other major European football competition, but they are reportedly close to a new schedule to see them through to the end of the 2019/20 season.

Speaking to the New York Times, Christian Seifert, chief executive of the German Football League (DFL), said that the Bundesliga and 2 Bundesliga – which have been suspended since March 13 – are planning to return behind closed doors at the beginning of May. Seifert added that behind closed door play is likely to become the norm until at least the end of the year.

The DFL plan will require 240 people to be in a stadium on match day, including players, coaches, medical staff, match officials and TV production crews. The matches will be organised by two teams – one in charge of setting up matchday regulation and another to be in charge of hygiene and healthcare.

He told the outlet: “We are part of the culture in the country, people long to get back a short piece of normal life, and that could mean the Bundesliga plays again. This is why we have to play our role here, and that means to support the government and to talk with the government about when we will be able to play again.”

Seifert also said that returning to play in this manner would help to avoid costs of €750 million.

Meanwhile in Italy, La Repubblica reports that plans aren’t as far along as in Germany, but that the gears are in motion to play all the remaining games of the season in a ‘quarantine camp’ in Rome.

The plan is said to involve moving all of the league’s teams to Rome, with training sessions and matches to take place using the capital city’s facilities.

The report adds that the 2020/21 season could be reorganised to break the matches into two round-robin style competitions where every team plays each other once in each.

While promising for the football business in Italy, the new plans for Italy would need to comply with Uefa’s prospective plans for the Champions League in order for the league’s top clubs to feature.