Bundesliga 2 resumes with players arriving in masks, match balls sprayed with disinfectant and cameramen the only people watching on in the stands
- Bundesliga 2 resumed early on Saturday as football returned in Germany
- An extensive list of safety measures were in place around the empty stadiums
- One match was postponed after two Dynamo Dresden players tested positive
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The second tier of German football has offered football fans across Europe their first glimpse of the game’s immediate future.
Four matches kicked off at midday in Germany‘s second tier, and another four started 30 minutes later, with players carrying out as much of their pre-match ritual as is possible in the coronavirus pandemic before resuming the 2019-20 season.
Players took to the pitch before kick-off wearing masks to look out upon stadiums that will remain empty for the duration of their game, aside from cameramen wearing masks.
Football returned in Germany on Saturday, firstly through their second tier – Bundesliga 2
Darmstadt players head onto the pitch before their Bundesliga 2 match against Karlsruher
Masked cameramen were the only people watching on from the stands on Saturday
Frank Schmidt, Heidenheim head coach, is interviewed from a distance prior to kick-off
Microphones are wrapped in a plastic cover in order to halt the potential spread of Covid-19
Ball boys wore gloves while microphones used to interview players and managers had a protective film wrapped over the top of them before being connected to a two-metre pole.
Match balls were also sprayed with disinfectant, as well as the seats in the dugouts where coaches and substitutes will sit. And when those players took their place on the bench, they sat apart from each other to maintain social distancing.
Media were allowed in to cover matches but their temperatures were taken upon arrival for any signs of a fever – one of the symptoms of coronavirus.
Stewards stood outside of the stadiums wearing masks, some of which were branded with club colours.
TV crews in the stands were the extent of the crowd across German fixtures this weekend
Ball boys will wear gloves when football finally resumes across Germany on Saturday
Match balls were sprayed with disinfectant prior to games restarting in Bundesliga 2
Seats in the dugout were also sprayed and cleaned before coaches and substitutes sat there
One Bundesliga 2 match was postponed this weekend. Dynamo Dresden’s clash with Hannover was called off after two Dresden players tested positive for the virus and the whole team was ordered into a two-week lockdown by regional authorities.
‘When the decision from the top came that we could train and the games were about to start, we gathered the whole team and started normal sessions,’ Dresden’s striker Alexander Jeremejeff told the BBC.
‘We only did this for two days and then we had to go to this quarantine for two weeks. ‘
Media were allowed in to cover the Bundesliga 2 matches but had their temperatures checked
Stewards partolled the perimeter of stadiums with club-branded face masks on