Bundesliga’s May return not ironclad as COVID-19 fails to slow down

The Bundesliga had hopes of a May return but with everything going on with COVID-19, those hopes seem to be getting further and further away.

When the DFB suspended play in the Bundesliga last month they did so with high hopes of returning in the near future. With the state of the world it didn’t look like that would be a reality but in the past week or so German officials thought the notion of a return in early May was possible. It was likely misguided hope that a return that early was even remotely possible but with teams picking up training efforts right now it does seem as they are intent on at least trying.

A recent Sports Illustrated article covered the discussions, with quotes from a Health Minister Jens Spahn and maybe more telling from a Union Berlin spokesman Christian Arbeit.

"“So far there have been a lot of considerations and thoughts, but no concrete plans for the resumption of Bundesliga games.”"

That coming from a Bundesliga club linked spokesman carries some weight, as there is still nothing even remote to concrete to announce at this point. If the Bundesliga was less than a month away from returning there would be some sort of a plan being put into place at this stage. As things stand, we’re just not at that point with the virus and there’s too much uncertainty to think about resuming the league at this point.

Dortmund fans will likely have to wait longer than May to see the Bundesliga resume. At this point it’s more likely to be a discussion of finishing the 2019/2020 season or just kicking off the 2020/2021 season if they are able to resume in August.