Dortmund chief argues against football behind closed doors

BERLIN: Borussia Dortmund CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke has criticised the decision to put Bundesliga matches back behind closed doors due to high numbers of Covid-19 in Germany.

Last month, the government ordered Bundesliga games to be played without spectators to try to curb the spread of the virus.

Dortmund are second in the Bundesliga table behind Bayern Munich.

Matches in Germany´s top flight resume Friday in front of empty terraces after a two-week winter break, but Watzke argued for allowing small numbers of fans to return.

“I am not interested in now filling up stadiums, that would be completely the wrong signal to send,” Watzke told magazine Der Spiegel.

“But I think 10 per cent of the stadium capacity would be appropriate.”

Dortmund´s impressive Signal Iduna Park stadium can hold 80,000 and Watzke wants to see it “even 10 per cent” full.

“Eight thousand spectators could be distributed in such a way that they have virtually nothing to do with each other physically,” Watzke said.

“With 8,000 spectators at our stadium, the risk of infection would be low, and to be honest, everyone knows that.”

Watzke says each Dortmund home game behind closed doors costs the club four million euros ($4.5 million) in lost matchday revenue, calling it “hardly economically viable”.

He warns that some German foot0ball clubs may be forced out of business unless fans are allowed to return soon.

“This will kill off an entire industry,” said Watzke, the new chairman of the German Football League (DFL) supervisory board.