Tuesday March 23, 2021
Update
Shut down public life
Senate: Berlin Easter derby without fans
The derby between Union Berlin and Hertha BSC should become a pilot project with fans, then according to a media report it should not take place at all. Now the Berlin Senate is only canceling the return of fans because public life is to be shut down on Easter Sunday.
The resolutions made by the federal and state governments on early Tuesday to combat the corona crisis initially have no impact on the Bundesliga. The derby between Union Berlin and Hertha BSC planned for Easter Sunday can take place as planned. The Senate Department for Interior and Sport denied a different report from the rbb. Both clubs and the DFL have so far not commented.
“The Senate has only decided that the game must take place without a spectator,” it said in a statement. The pilot project planned for the Derby for the return of spectators could not be implemented because of the Easter rest. The federal and state governments decided on Tuesday night to extend the current lockdown rules until April 18. Over Easter, the lockdown is tightened for several days so that public life in Germany is largely shut down.
In Berlin, the return of fans at three test events is being prepared in cooperation with the professional clubs from various team sports and the Senate Administration. The Berlin volleys will kick off the playoff game of the volleyball Bundesliga against Düren on Wednesday in the Max-Schmeling-Halle. Originally, the Berlin derby was supposed to be part two of the pilot project and let fans return to the Bundesliga for the first time. In terms of capacity, Union had targeted a “very low four-digit number”, said club spokesman Christian Arbeit last week, which will be “nowhere near the 5000”.
The prospect of a derby in front of a few thousand supporters had also found Hertha coach Pal Dardai to be good on Monday. Even if only supporters of the Iron had been admitted to the duel. “No footballer would say that fans are a disadvantage, even if they are not our fans, but from Union. Should they come,” said the Hertha coach in a media talk.
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