Spectators in the Bundesliga: A stadium full of vaccinated people

Even Karl Lauterbach was there recently to see the situation for himself. The health expert from the SPD, who was omnipresent in the pandemic and deputy for the constituency “Leverkusen – Cologne IV”, said that when he visited the 1. FC Köln stadium, he measured the distance between the seats in order to ensure that they were suitable for corona protective measures check, he said earlier this month on a talk show called “Loss mer schwaade”. At that point he could not even have known what central importance the site he was examining would have in the debate about spectators in Bundesliga stadiums, far beyond the observance of distance rules.

At the end of last week, FC announced that after their second home game of the season, they would only allow recovered and vaccinated spectators into the stadium – and only those who tested negative in justified exceptional cases, such as children and adolescents. Already at the first home game this Sunday against Hertha BSC, when fans everywhere in the first division return to the stands, 15,500 of the planned 16,500 spectators in Cologne are said to be vaccinated or recovered. Since the announcement, opinions have diverged as to whether “2G” instead of “3G” are unjust privileges for vaccinated people – or simply a sensible, necessary, hopeful approach for the industry and even symbolic for the vaccination campaign.

“We wanted to send a clear message,” said Alexander Wehrle, the managing director of 1. FC Cologne, on Tuesday of the SZ. Solutions are needed as to how professional sport can continue in Germany. To make the stadiums full again at some point is “only possible with a significant vaccination quota”, that is, with those who have been vaccinated and those who have recovered. Vaccination is the “key to everything”, said Borussia Dortmund’s managing director Hans-Joachim Watzke on Monday – and turned to the fans: “If you want to go back to the stadium, please get vaccinated.”

One critic of the Cologne plans, on the other hand, is, for example, Hoffenheim’s managing director Jan Mayer, who sees such considerations as an “obligation to vaccinate through the back door”. And Eberhard Gienger, the sports policy spokesman for the CDU / CSU parliamentary group in the Bundestag, said the Augsburger AllgemeineIn his opinion, “vaccinated, recovered or negative tested spectators must be treated equally when entering the stadium”. He advocated uniform rules for the start of the Bundesliga.

FC managing director Wehrle believes that more clubs will follow the Cologne route

The league is far from a uniform picture in the audience question. On Tuesday, the federal-state switchboard decided to initially only use 50 percent of the stadiums, with 25,000 spectators as the upper limit. However, the exact interpretation has so far differed from state to state, both below and above the incidence of 35, which is defined as a key figure. In Bavaria, a maximum capacity of 1500 people above that would be permitted. On the other hand, 23,000 spectators are expected for FC Bayern’s opening game in Mönchengladbach, although the incidence is over 35 – the cut-off date for North Rhine-Westphalia was last Wednesday when it was just below that.

In Cologne it is again higher, so only 1000 viewers would actually be allowed. Up to a third of the capacity, however, the stadium can be “filled” with vaccinated and convalescent people, the city informed the WDR. The concept takes effect in consultation with the health department up to a possible incidence of 100.

The fact that the NRW-AfD joined the critics should rather encourage 1. FC Köln in its request

The Bundesliga clubs are unanimous in promoting vaccination. SC Freiburg announced on Friday that it would reward first-time vaccinates with 1,100 free tickets. The first foray into the matter came during the preparation for the season from Frankfurt, where Eintracht had defended their plan to admit another 5,000 vaccinated and recovered spectators to a friendly game in addition to the 5,000 vaccinated and recovered spectators, even if the incidence was over 35, with the announcement of a legal dispute. But as far as “2G” or “3G” are concerned, the picture is still inconsistent, as a survey by the ARD “Sportschau” showed, in which eleven clubs took part. Four responded to the question of whether vaccinated and convalescent people should have advantages over those who were tested with “no”.

The reactions to the FC initiative, says Wehrle, were “mostly positive”. He defends himself against the accusation of a “compulsory vaccination through the back door”. Rather, it is like this: “We also have a responsibility for the many FC fans who are vaccinated.” 71 out of more than 110,000 members had resigned, but none of them were season ticket holders. The fact that the NRW-AfD joined the critics with a poster campaign should rather strengthen the club in its request. “We are also interested in clarification,” says Wehrle. At the home game against Berlin, visitors can get vaccinated at the stadium. With the Johnson & Johnson active ingredient, they could already be vaccinated against VfL Bochum two weeks later for the next home game if they got a ticket.

Wehrle says he received praise not only from fans, but also from managerial colleagues in the league. It sounds certain that there will be more imitators: “We will not be alone.”