Super Eagles’ Germany-based full backs, Jamilu Collins of SC Paderborn and Kingsley Ehizibue of FC Cologne have been hit with a fresh bolt of doubt about the possibility of them returning to action early next month in the German Bundesliga, as a new wave of opposition is raging against the proposal, megasportsarena.com reports.
In contrast with initial hope held by Collins and Ehizibue, latest information out of Deutschland reveals that a restart of the Bundesliga could be pushed back a week to May 16 as clubs in the top-flight league nervously wait for the country’s leader, Chancellor Angela Merkel’s verdict on the plan which will see players ‘quasi-quarantined’.
The current proposal Collins and Ehizibue are holding unto with great hope and expectations is for play in Germany to resume on May 9, but latest reports indicate that a spike in coronavirus cases has put that under threat.
The country’s ministry of labor have given a green light to that strategy but Merkel’s meeting on Thursday will see the topic discussed and is the final hurdle.
This is despite reports that more extensive plans have been presented to the government with regards to keeping the players and public safe when the season restarts behind closed doors.
Bild report that the starting date could now be May 16 and the DFL have outlined how they will ‘quasi-quarantine’ the players to keep both them and the public at as low risk as possible.
A letter from the governing body to the Ministry of Labor read: ‘In this respect, the players live in a zone that is next to their private home on the other side Training ground, the stadium’s player area, the team hotels and the team bus.’
The Rhenische Post report that the ‘quasi-quarantine’ proposal has done enough to garner support at the sports ministerial conference but Merkel has the all important say.
A report by Daily Mail added that the chances of Collins, Ehizibue and other players in Der Bundesliga returning to training and matches would depend to a large extent on the spike or reduction in coronavirus cases, which would decide whether Germany will need to ramp up lockdown.
At present, the country has 160,000 infections but only 6,000 deaths, which is a much lower total than the likes of the UK, Italy and Spain – all on more than 20,000 fatalities, while their virus reproduction rate – which shows how many people on average are effected by coronavirus – has now shot up to 1.0, the ‘dividing line between growth and decline’.
