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Official: Bundesliga to restart on May 16, Borussia Dortmund to host Schalke in opener

By Tushar Bahl

Empty seats and a graffiti on the wall showing soccer socks and a flag in the colors of the German first division Bundesliga football club Borussia Dortmund are pictured in the stadium Signal Iduna Park in Dortmund, western Germany, on May 5, 2020, due to the spread of the novel coronavirus COVID-19. - German football is waiting for the green light as during Chancellor Angela Merkel's crucial meeting with the Presidents of the Lander (regional states) on May 6, 2020 will be decided whether or not to allow the Bundesliga to resume, behind closed doors and on the basis of a draconian health protocol. (Photo by Ina FASSBENDER / AFP) (Photo by INA FASSBENDER/AFP via Getty Images)
Empty seats and a graffiti on the wall showing soccer socks and a flag in the colors of the German first division Bundesliga football club Borussia Dortmund are pictured in the stadium Signal Iduna Park in Dortmund, western Germany, on May 5, 2020, due to the spread of the novel coronavirus COVID-19. - German football is waiting for the green light as during Chancellor Angela Merkel's crucial meeting with the Presidents of the Lander (regional states) on May 6, 2020 will be decided whether or not to allow the Bundesliga to resume, behind closed doors and on the basis of a draconian health protocol. (Photo by Ina FASSBENDER / AFP) (Photo by INA FASSBENDER/AFP via Getty Images) /
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The German Bundesliga will make its long awaited return on May 16 with Borussia Dortmund set to host Schalke 04 in a blockbuster derby to kick things off.

After receiving the approval to resume the Bundesliga and 2.Bundesliga from the federal and state governments yesterday, the DFL held a virtual meeting with its member clubs today to finalise the date of the restart. The politicians gave the green light for professional football to resume in Germany from the second half of the month, so in line with that, the Bundesliga will now get back underway on May 16.

The league will restart with Matchday 26, which will be headlined by Borussia Dortmund’s Ruhr derby against Schalke 04. League leaders Bayern Munich will host Union Berlin a day later. The Black and Yellows will host title rivals Bayern Munich in one of the two scheduled midweek rounds on May 26/27. All matches will be played behind closed doors.

In his press conference after the meeting, DFL chief Christian Seifert thanked the politicians and the society for their support. He also praised Germany’s health care system for making it possible to get the restart going so quickly. Seifert also spoke about FIFA’s proposal of five substitutions in every game, and confirmed that the DFL is considering it.

Seifert also confirmed that the first portion of the TV money has already been distributed to all 36 clubs, and the second part will come later this month.

Barring any stoppages, the league will end with matchday 34 on June 27, which will ensure that German clubs do not have to give new deals to players with expiring contracts or players on loan. The start of next season has not yet been confirmed.

Next. Bundesliga 2019/20 Team of the Season so far. dark

16 of the 18 Bundesliga teams have nine games remaining, while Werder Bremen and Eintracht Frankfurt have ten games to go before the end of the season. Borussia Dortmund are currently locked in the title fight, and are four points behind league leaders Bayern Munich.

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