Bayern Munich fans started undegoing coronavirus tests on Monday ahead of their trip to the European Super Cup match in Budapest, amid grave concern voiced by Bavarian state premier Markus Soeder.
UEFA Champions League winners Bayern Munich are offering free testing for ticket-holders until Tuesday, ahead of Thursday’s match against Europa League champions Sevilla, and on their return.
Europe’s ruling football body UEFA is sticking to its plan to host the Super Cup final at the Puskas Arena and in front of fans.
Both clubs were allowed to sell 3,000 tickets to their fans as 30 per cent of the 67,000 stadium capacity are to be used.
Club chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge said 2,100 Bayern Munich fans are expected to travel to Hungary.
A negative test not older than 48 hours is needed to gain entry into the country.
But there have been ticket cancellations after German health authorities declared Budapest a high-risk area.
The number of new coronavirus infections in seven days there has been stable at high value of 100.
Bayern Munich are traveling with a very small delegation, and Soeder is considering stricter quarantine rules in connection with the game.
Soeder said on Monday that everyone should think “carefully” before attending the game, saying: “I really have stomach ache when it comes to the Super Cup.
“It is a very high risk area and we must be very, very careful to not have an additional risk, a football version of Ischgl so to speak,” Soeder said.
He was comparing it to the ski resort in Austria where many holiday-makers were infected with the virus in the past winter.
For now anyone who has been abroad in a risk area for less than 48 hours does not have to be in a two-week quarantine at home.
But Soeder wants to propose to the cabinet on Tuesday that people attending sports and other cultural events abroad should respect the quarantine regulations.
This means football fans would have to go into self-isolation or take appropriate tests after their return, even if they stayed less than 48 hours abroad.
“My appeal, however, will be to reconsider whether [the game] is really necessary. The Super Cup is an exciting game, but not the most important one”, Soeder said.
Due the increasing number of coronavirus infections in Munich, no spectators were allowed at Bayern Munich’s Bundesliga opener against Schalke 04 at the Allianz Arena on Friday.
That was after originally 7,500 were permitted to attend.
Germany’s Health Minister Jens Spahn praised that decision and, with Cologne also having to play behind closed doors on the weekend, has not ruled out similar short-term steps in the future.
“The city of Munich has done the right thing,” Spahn said on Monday.
“As bitter as it may be for the fans and the football atmosphere, if the regional numbers are increasing, no fans should be allowed in the stadiums.”
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