matches, goals and a plethora of new rules... This weekend, the Bundesliga has become the first championship of the Big 5 to resume his duties after a month and a half off (31 march). A recovery in high-health monitoring because of the crisis of the coronavirus, which is still rampant in the country, even if its spread is lower than elsewhere in Europe. Medical director of the FFF and is a member of the UEFA medical committee, Emmanuel Orhant back on the conditions for a recovery without precedent.
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"A protocol drastic put in place"
For the first time in its history, the prestigious "derby of the Ruhr' between Borussia Dortmund to his neighbor Schalke 04 (4-0) was arguing behind closed doors, in the echo eerie in the Signal Iduna Park, and with extremely precise rules. Observance of the distances in the dressing room, a separate entrance on the ground, ban on handshakes or hugs, and wearing a mask on the bench, put away the rest of the population, outlet temperature or disinfection of the balloons, every fifteen minutes, the clubs in germany have agreed to submit to sanitary measures draconian to convince the authorities the germans to resume the football.
Everything to know about the hygiene protocol being implemented by the #Bundesliga ahead of this weekend. pic.twitter.com/kl7MBTCT6I
— Bundesliga English (@Bundesliga_EN) May 15, 2020
" The protocol put in place by the Bundesliga is drastic and applies equally well to the training, in the field and in everyday life ", explains Emmanuel Orhant. "The organization of the meetings is only possible if the footballers and all those that revolve around the games are extremely rigorous. It will be seen that in a few weeks if this protocol will eventually bear fruit. "In Germany, where a majority of public opinion is not favourable to the resumption of the championship (56 % of respondents in a survey), the public authorities are aware of the policy issue and have clearly placed a sword of Damocles hanging over the football. And woe to those who do not comply with the guidelines : two coaches have already been excluded from the games this weekend to have violated this quarantine. Heiko Herrlich, Augsburg, guilty of being out of the hotel to go to buy toothpaste in town. And Urs Fischer, his colleague, Union Berlin, who has voluntarily left his group for a grieving family.
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A risk of permanent injury to the players ?
This resumption of the championship in Germany, of course, begs the question of the preservation of the health of the players. During a recent interview with the AFP, professor Wilhelm Bloch, of the superior School of sports in Cologne, had been alerted about possible lesions are "irreversible" that could diminish the performance of athletes. But Emmanuel Orhant puts into perspective the remarks of " these whistleblowers who love to fear rather than reason to keep it ". According to the medical director of the FFF, " all the people who have been affected with severe symptoms are at risk of the heart and lungs. The healing at the level of the heart or lungs is not obtained today, and the exploration data respiratory, some say they are pessimistic with regard to the healing of these lesions of the lung ".
An observation which does not need to extend to the entire population : "to Say that these scars will affect the performance of players a posteriori, we just don't know. Especially as it concerns people who are severely affected, which is not the case of the football players – if not the midfielder from Montpellier Junior Samba. They are in full physical form, they are closely followed by doctors, their health is not in danger. The main risk that remains is that several teams are affected by the virus and placed in quatorzaine. In this case, the championship will no doubt be arrested again. "
"The French government did not wanted to take risk"
In France, the decree n° 2020-545 Monday 11 may 2020 "prescribes the general measures necessary to deal with the epidemic of Covid-19 in the framework of the state health emergency" announced the discontinuation of all sports. "When we were working on a scenario of recovery in France, we also had in our hands the working documents from Spain, Italy or Germany, for example," says Emmanuel Orhant. "And, to tell the truth, the protocol that has been presented to the ministry of Health and the High Council of Health was almost identical to the German model. Nevertheless, the government has judged that the risk of the spread of the virus between the different teams and thus different regions was too important and didn't want to take that risk. What wants to avoid the Sports minister, Roxana Maracineanu, it is that the epidemic can spread to the cause of sport and of the brewing of population from region to region. It is a decision that is clear and precise and who does not ask questions. "
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But if the German example proves to be effective, a resumption of League 1, can it be possible ? "Currently, the championship was stopped as well by the French football Federation (FFF) by the board of directors of the professional football League (LFP). Therefore, for the championship restarts, it should be new decisions, but I doubt that this is provided for by the regulations of the LFP. By contrast, if all the championships resume, it would mean that it was possible. We will then have our eyes to cry. "
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UEFA, keeping his eyes on the Germany
If the Bundesliga manages to complete her championship, she has proved to the world that professional sport can live with the coronavirus. Determined to resume its continental competitions this summer, the governing body of european football is particularly attentive to what is happening beyond the Rhine. President Aleksander Ceferin, there is no doubt that the european cups will go to the end of their term in August, "except cataclysm," he explained last week in the columns of the Italian newspaper Corriere dello Sport. Then, of course, the German case is scrutinized from all sides by the UEFA. The leader of the new working group on the coronavirus in the Bundesliga and chairman of the UEFA medical committee, professor Tim Meyer for a few weeks in the spotlight.
" At UEFA, a task force has been created. Composed of a scientist, a doctor of the club and three members of the medical commission, representing England, Spain, Germany, Croatia and Norway – it has the role to implement a health protocol to guide its competitions : The uefa champions League and the Europa League. "But it's still not counting travel restrictions to inter-state still in place, the various scenarios of evolution of the health situation and the domestic policies of each State.
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