The plans to resume the 2019/2020 Bundesliga season has been met with a hiccup with two players of first division club Dynamo Dresden testing positive for COVID-19. The new development has seen the 2.Bundesliga outfit being forced into quarantine, with their chances of playing in the next two weeks in serious doubt.
Earlier this week, the Bundesliga announced plans to resume football action on May 16, following a directive by the government. As a result, it has composed a detailed set of regulations and guidelines to be followed by all the clubs for training and matches to minimize the possible risk of transmitting the virus.
The Bundesliga and Bundesliga 2 season will resume from May 16th. In both leagues, the season will continue with the 26th matchday. The other matchdays will follow in the order originally scheduled.
— Bundesliga English (@Bundesliga_EN) May 7, 2020
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Among the precautionary measures include stringent testing, and, on Friday, players from all the clubs were subjected to examinations. A setback has since emerged with the entire squad of 2.Bundesliga side Dynamo Dresden being placed in isolation for two weeks following two positive coronavirus tests among the players.
"After an intensive analysis of the situation, the health authority in Dresden... decided on Saturday that the entire second-division squad, including the coaching and support team, must now go into a 14-day quarantine at home," the club said in a statement on Saturday.
"Due to the quarantine measures, (the club) will not be able to travel to Lower Saxony for the away game on matchday 26 as planned," it added.
The team, who sit at the bottom of the league, was scheduled to play Hannover 96 next Sunday in their first game back after the hiatus.
"In the past few weeks, we have made enormous efforts in terms of personnel and logistics in order to implement all the prescribed medical and hygienic measures strictly," said Dynamo sports manager Ralf Minge.
"We are in contact with the responsible health authority and the DFL (German Football League) to coordinate all further steps. The fact is that we can neither train nor participate in the game in the next 14 days."
On Monday, the DFL revealed that it had registered ten positive cases in a blanket test of 1,724 players and staff within the 36 first and second division clubs. At the moment, the next cause of action remains unknown, with the German football governing body yet to issue a statement in response to the latest development.
