Because of the spectator exclusion in the Bundesliga, Eintracht Frankfurt’s head coach Oliver Glasner even fears rising numbers of infections with the coronavirus. The 47-year-old pleads for a safe, controllable stadium experience – and also comments on the issue of salary sacrifice.
For the time being, the 18 Bundesliga teams will play in front of empty stands again in the second half of the season on 7 January. A measure that is supposed to slow down the rise in the number of infections with the coronavirus – and which has caused little understanding among Eintracht Frankfurt’s head coach Oliver Glasner, despite three infected players in his own ranks. “I don’t quite understand that ghost matches are coming. Because I believe that many fans will then meet at home, untested and perhaps unvaccinated,” the 47-year-old said in a media round on Thursday.
He fears that football fans will then meet in confined, enclosed spaces. “This might actually make the infection numbers go up than stay down if people are outdoors in the stadium with 2GPlus where everything is controlled,” Glasner said, adding, referring to the ghost games, “I think it can even be counterproductive. “
This is all very nice in theory, but in practice it won’t work.
Glasner also made reference to the measures in his home country of Austria – where a curfew for restaurants will apply from 10pm on New Year’s Eve this year. “It’s all very nice in theory, but in practice it won’t work,” said the Salzburg native. People would just go home and continue partying there. That will also happen with the ghost games, he added.
Salary sacrifice comes back on the agenda
The Eintracht suffered million-dollar losses after the first spectator exclusion in the 2019/20 season. The professionals had waived part of their salaries last year because of this.
Now Glasner brought a renewed waiver into play: “There will be thoughts about it. “
