The virulence of the sixth wave in the number of infections has also plummeted in Spanish football. In the changing rooms, the drip of positives around the Christmas holidays is continuous (until this Wednesday only in the First Division, more than 80 cases have been reported between players and coaches) and after the festive break, the stadiums will close part of the steps. The Ministry of Health and the autonomous communities agreed to limit the entry of fans to the fields to 75% of the total capacity (50% in the closed pavilions). A new step back after since last October 1 there were no barriers to fill them completely outdoors and 80% indoors.

With less public in the amphitheaters and the great uncertainty in all the teams of how many footballers and coaches will be available for the day that begins this New Year’s Eve with Valencia-Espanyol and continues on Sunday, January 2, football is once again trapped by the pandemic when it seemed to have regained cruising speed.

Speculating on a team’s line-up is today, more than ever, mission impossible. The recent obligation of LaLiga to carry out daily antigen tests (the employer provides 60 a day to the 42 First and Second clubs) and a PCR around the Christmas break has triggered the incidence in professional football booths. The list is constantly expanding. Barcelona has reported seven cases (Gavi, Dembélé, Umititi, Alba, Lenglet, Alves and Abde); Real Madrid, four more (Courtois, Vinicius, Valverde and Camavinga) after the nine casualties due to covid that he suffered a week ago in San Mamés; Valencia, four; Rayo, 14 (this Tuesday it was only possible to train with eight players); the Royal Society, 10; Elche, eight; the Celtic, nine; Sevilla, three …

However, not all the positives that have been declared these days are necessarily ruled out for the next day. A part of the infections has occurred in the last two weeks and the Government’s measure to reduce the quarantine from ten to seven days is in some cases an opportunity to reach the game this weekend if your physical condition allows it.

According to LaLiga protocol, prepared for the previous season and in force in this, as long as a team has 13 players, five of them from the first team, and at least one goalkeeper, they will be in a position to play a game. The rules developed by the employers also establish that, in First, a team can only suspend a match due to covid until day 30 (two in Second until date 34 of the championship). If he must do it more times or beyond these times on the schedule, the match will be considered lost 3-0.

Germany already closed

Crisis in the changing rooms and also in the stands, where the fans have run out of the free attendance bar. Only three months has lasted the absence of limitations when looking for a seat in the stadium. Starting this weekend, there will be a maximum of 75% of the capacity. The hand opened little by little since last spring and is now partially closing again.

After 14 months of professional sports vacuum packed, on May 12 the Government approved, after many refusals, that people could return to the football league fields and the ACB pavilions at the end of last season, although in a very limited way. Only in the fiefdoms of the communities where there was a cumulative incidence in 14 days of less than 50 cases per 100,000 inhabitants. And only up to 30% of the capacity and with a ceiling of 5,000 spectators.

Until then, the First, Second and Basketball League fields were almost the only ones without an audience. In the Cup, for example, in which teams from the current First Federation also participate, fans had already entered. The opening measure in May barely benefited five games of the last two days in the First Division (Valencia-Eibar, Villarreal-Sevilla, Elche-Athletic, Levante-Cádiz and Celta-Betis), but it marked a turning point.

During the summer, at the European Championship, 16,000 people were allowed access to the Cartuja de Sevilla, where Spain played the first phase. And in mid-August, for the start of the League, Health and the communities approved a maximum of 40% outdoors (30% in closed pavilions). Each region, yes, was able to lower these figures. In the Basque Country, for example, it was reduced to 20% and the opening match between Alavés and Madrid only got 3,968 spectators. So everything continued until on October 1, with a favorable evolution of the number of infections, it was finally decided to fully open all stadiums. Now, three months later, another limitation.

In Germany the restriction has been even greater. In Bavaria and Saxony, since the beginning of December, people cannot access the stadiums, as was observed in the Bayern-Barcelona Champions League held on the 8th in Munich behind closed doors. As in Austria, the Salzburg-Seville of the Champions League. In the Germanic country, the limitations vary according to the regions: from the 15,000 spectators at the top in North Rhine-Westphalia to the symbolic 750 in Baden-Württemberg, passing through the 5,000 in Berlin. It is not ruled out that tougher measures will be taken soon that affect the Bundesliga, reports Enrique Müller.

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