TheTimes8April2020

the times | Wednesday April 8 2020 2GM 57

FootballSport

The Bayern Munich manager Hans-

Dieter Flick has said that his team will

be ready to resume games behind

closed doors as early as the beginning of

next month but stressed that they

would be guided by the advice of the

German government.

The German Football League (DFL),

which operates the Bundesliga and

the second division, has held video-

conference discussions with represent-

atives of the 36 clubs in the top two tiers

to explore the possibility of resuming

the season behind closed doors. The

remaining fixtures could be played

between the beginning of May and the

end of June if the authorities deem it

safe, under controlled conditions.

“We all hope we can play in May, but

we’re going day by day based on what

the government decides,” Flick, 55, said

at a virtual press conference. “We’re

prepared for every eventuality, whe-

ther that means resuming at the start of

May, mid-May, or the start of June. Of

course, it would be a nice sign for foot-

ball to begin again, but we have to abide

by the government guidelines.”

Under one scenario, reported by Bild,

games could take place with only 239

people in the stadium: 122 on and

around the field, including players,

coaching and medical staff, and TV

crew; four ball boys; and 113 in the

stands including service personnel and

journalists.

On the prospect of playing behind

closed doors, Flick added: “If we play in

front of no spectators, that’s something

we have to get used to, and get on with

things in a professional and disciplined

way. With no emotion coming from the

stands, we have to put all our focus on

ourselves.”

The vast majority of Bundesliga clubs

have now resumed in-person training

while attempting to abide by the social-

distancing protocols which are in force

in Germany. Bayern’s squad returned to

the club’s Säbener Strasse training

ground on Monday but were told to

arrive at different times, train in groups

of five, and maintain a distance from

each other of 1.5 metres on the pitch

and 4m when changing. No tackling is

permitted.

“Currently we’re avoiding physical

contact, so the focus is on technical

work in training,” Flick confirmed. “It’s

good and important to be on the pitch

in groups by the city’s government.

Yesterday, Bremen’s interior minister

allowed the players to resume training

in groups of four, provided they are

screened before sessions and shower at

home, removing one potential obstacle

to a fair resumption of the Bundesliga.

“From a sporting point of view, this is

an important step considering the

players have practised almost exclusive-

ly at home for the past three weeks,” the

club’s sporting director Frank Baumann

said. “This way, we can once again pre-

pare our team for the competition.”

However, there are still a number of

complicating factors standing in the

way of a resumption. For a start, it’s

unclear at what point the restrictions

on tackling and playing 11-a-side

matches in training will be relaxed,

which would be necessary to allow

teams to attain a level of “match fitness”

before games resume.

Moreover, one German virologist

has suggested that Bundesliga games

could resume only if teams remained

quarantined for the remaining dura-

tion of the season, to avoid having to

retest players before every game. “The

problem is solvable... only if one

achieves a sort of special bubble for the

players,” Alexander Kekulé told ZDF.

It’s unclear exactly what form this

quarantine would take, or if players

would agree to it.

The head of the Spanish league,

meanwhile, has also spelt out plans to

restart the season in May or June and

said it was likely to begin behind closed

doors. Javier Tebas, the president of La

Liga, said plans were being put together

for the league to resume on May 28/29,

June 6/7 or June 28/29, with matches

probably being played on Sundays and

Wednesdays and European competi-

tions played after the domestic ones.

Tebas said the financial consequen-

ces of not finishing the season would be

catastrophic — but even if it is complet-

ed there will still be a drop in income.

“We are talking about €1 billion

[about £880 million] if we didn’t get

back to playing, €300 million if we are

playing behind closed doors and

€150 million if we are playing with spec-

tators but the damage has been done,”

he told reporters in a conference call.

Bayern: We’re ready to play in May

James Gheerbrant, Gary Jacob

T

hey may have

returned to

training but

German clubs are still

adhering to social

distancing guidelines.

With his players not

permitted to come

within five feet of one

another, David

Wagner, the former

Huddersfield Town

manager now at

Schalke, oversaw

training from a raised

platform (above). The

measures also

meant that

Thomas Müller

kept away from

Bayern Munich’s

directors when

signing his new

contract (right).

Schalke’s

novel take

on social

distancing

LARS BARON/BONGARTS/GETTY IMAGES

blackout survival guide

read this book

The Boy on the

Shed by Paul

Ferris

You know a

sports book is

going to be

different when

its first line is:

“The day I

nearly died

started like

every other

day.” I was doubtful,

though. Was Ferris’s

brush with death his way

of explaining why he

wrote his autobiography?

If so, it could become

self-indulgent (Alyson

Rudd writes). And who is

Paul Ferris anyway?

In case you didn’t

know, in 1981, the

16-year-old winger

became the youngest

footballer to play for

Newcastle

United and

was hailed as

the next

George Best.

Cruelly,

injuries cut

short his career

by 1985, after

which Ferris

became a

physiotherapist

at the club and

a member of

Alan Shearer’s

management team.

His tale, though, is

about more than the

vagaries of sporting

fortune as it recalls

growing up during the

Troubles and the stalking

fear throughout his life of

heart disease that had

plagued his family and

led to him suffering a

heart attack at 48.

answer these questions

On this day

1. Alec Stewart turns 57
   today. How old was he
   when he made his Test
   debut for England?

2. In the 1935 Masters,

Gene Sarazen beat Craig

Wood in a play-off. On

which hole in the fourth

round did he score his

famous albatross?

3. Nineteen years ago,
   in the early hours of
   Sunday, British
   boxing fans tuned
   in to watch Prince
   Naseem Hamed
   lose the only bout
   of his
   professional
   career. Who was
   his opponent?

Remember this

postponement?

4. Why was the League
   Cup match between
   Chester City and
   Plymouth Argyle in
   September 1981
   abandoned after 78
   minutes?

A The referee was

injured during the

match and his

replacement fell ill

B The goalpost

snapped

C Lightning

caused a

burger van to

catch fire

remember this day in 1990?

Nick Faldo wins his second

consecutive Masters, as

reported in The Times on

April 9, 1990

Nick Faldo retained the

Masters yesterday when,

in circumstances so

similar to 12 months ago

that it was difficult to

believe, he overcame

Raymond Floyd at the

second extra hole of a

sudden-death play-off.

Faldo squeezed three

birdies from the last six

holes to erase a four-

stroke deficit and with a

final round of 69 tied

with Floyd, who took 72,

with a ten-under-par

total of 278.

Then he escaped from

a bunker at the first extra

hole, holing from four

feet, to advance to the

11th hole, where last year

he overcame Scott Hoch.

There Floyd met his

nemesis when he put his

second shot into the

water and Faldo, with a

perfect par four, once

again raised his arms in

celebration.

He had with this win

emulated Jack Nicklaus

by successfully defending

the Masters and he had

unquestionably proved

with his third win in a

major championship in

his past 11 efforts that he

is entitled to be regarded

as the best player in the

world.

“It’s wonderful,

unbelievable,” he said. “I

made history out there

and I will remember that

for the rest of my life.”

tful

N

U

w

th

G

C

in

s b w b p a a

ANSWERS: 1. 26. 2.

15TH. 3. MARCO

ANTONIO BARRERA

4. B — THE
   GOALPOST
   SNAPPED

Hamed after

his one loss

Faldo plays over a bunker on his way to a Masters win

Bundesliga top six

PW D L F AGDPts

B Munich ........ 25 17 4 4 73 26 47 55

B Dortmund .. 25 15 6 4 68 33 35 51

RB Leipzig ...... 25 14 8 3 62 26 36 50

B M’gladbach 25 15 4 6 49 30 19 49

B Leverkusen 2514 5 6 45 30 15 47

Schalke ........... 25 9 10 6 33 36 -3 37

— we don’t know when the next step

will come, but you can always work on

technique.”

Werder Bremen, a relegation-

threatened club based in the north-

western city-state of Bremen, had up

until now been prevented from training