The Bundesliga will resume behind closed doors on Saturday 16 May – and is the first European league to restart following the coronavirus shutdown.
One of the games on the day of relaunch will be the derby between Schalke and Borussia Dortmund.
Champions Bayern Munich, who are four points clear at the top of the table, travel to Union Berlin on Sunday.
Most teams have nine games to play, with the final weekend of the season rescheduled for 27-28 June.
The German Football Association (DFL) said the season would resume under strict health protocols that bans fans from the stadium and requires players to have Covid-19 testing.
Around 300 people, including players, staff and officials, will be in or around the stadiums during matchdays.
The league has been suspended since 13 March; clubs returned to training in mid-April with players working out in groups.
Christian Seifert, chief executive of the German Football League (DFL), held a news conference on Thursday where he said despite the empty stands and other restrictions, “it was crucial to resume play”.
Other updates to emerge included:
- As well as players and coaching staff, referees will also be subject to medical and hygiene regulations.
- There was no clarification on the issue of matches being available free to air – talks are under way with broadcasters.
- There were 10 positive results from clubs in the top two divisions following the first series of coronavirus tests – and two in the second series.
On Wednesday, Chancellor Angela Merkel eased some restrictions, allowing shops to reopen with the country seeing fewer than 7,000 deaths from coronavirus.
Seifert said: “The interest [globally] is big. I see reports from across the world that we are the first major league to return. This can only happen because we have the privilege to live in one of the most modern health systems in the world.
“The matches will feel different. After the first matchday, we will all know why we prefer games with fans. But that is the framework we have to operate in and I expect the best possible sport within this framework.”
Analysis
It’s going to look, sound and feel very different but there is something very exciting about finally having a start date for the resumption of one of the best leagues in world football.
The German Football League (DFL) boss Christian Seifert sounded a note of caution though at his press conference, reinforcing the fact that this is quite a fragile situation, saying “we’re playing under probation” and adding that they almost have to prove that their health and safety concepts are working on every single match day.
A local derby between fierce rivals Schalke and Borussia Dortmund is a great way to start on paper but it will also highlight how much fans will be missed at these big games and how disgruntled some of the supporters groups in Germany will be about the Bundesliga being able to continue without them.
The eyes of the Premier League, La Liga and Serie A will be firmly fixed on these early games – because if Germany can make it work, maybe Europe’s other major leagues have a stronger chance too.
Full list of fixtures
Saturday
Augsburg v Wolfsburg
Borussia Dortmund v Schalke
Eintracht Frankfurt v Borussia Monchengladbach
Fortuna Dusseldorf v Paderborn
Hoffenheim v Hertha Berlin
RB Leipzig v Freiburg
Sunday
Cologne v Mainz
Union Berlin v Bayern Munich
Monday
Werder Bremen v Bayer Leverkusen
Kosi’s emergence on the Afrobeat scene feels both familiar and fresh. Rooted in a childhood shaped by gospel music and choir rehearsals, his sound carries the discipline and soul of his church background. But, there’s also a raw edge, drawn from the streets of Festac, Lagos, that gives his music a grittier, lived-in texture. The blend is strikingly obvious as you’d hear a voice trained in harmony and a message born of hustle.
The artist’s approach to songwriting is intentional, pulling from personal experiences and everyday realities rather than chasing empty trends. It’s this mix of vulnerability and confidence that has quickly earned him attention within Lagos‘s music circles, even though he has just a few releases. Kosi is already making a case for himself as a voice that can stand out in the crowd, honest, grounded, and undeniably Afrobeat.
A man places a Russian national flag on a balcony of a residential building in Lysychansk, eastern Ukraine, which is now territory under the control of the self-described Luhansk People’s Republic
As the Russia-Ukraine war enters its 132nd day, we take a look at the main developments.
Here are the key events so far on Tuesday, July 5.
Fighting
- Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said his troops have “no alternative” but to “push back and destroy the offensive potential” of Russian forces, as the battle moves from Luhansk to nearby Donetsk.
- Ukrainian forces that retreated from Lysychansk are now holding the line between Bakhmut and Sloviansk, preparing to fend off a further Russian advance, Luhansk governor Serhiy Haidai said.
- President Vladimir Putin congratulated Russian troops on “liberating” the eastern Ukrainian region of Luhansk.
- At least 345 children have died in Ukraine as a result of Russia’s invasion and 644 have been wounded, the prosecutor general’s office reported.
Diplomacy
- Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson met Ukraine’s president in Kyiv, with the two parties signing a joint statement on defence and energy cooperation.
- Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov will fly to Hanoi on Tuesday for a two-day visit to Vietnam before heading to a G20 meeting later this week in Indonesia, the Vietnamese government said.
- Zelenskyy thanked the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for supporting a ban on Russian teams and athletes competing in most Olympic sports.
- Putin did not congratulate President Joe Biden on the United States’ Independence Day on July 4 due to “unfriendly” relations, the Kremlin said.
Economy
- Ukraine needs $750bn for a recovery plan, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal told a Ukraine Recovery Conference hosted by Switzerland.
- Ukraine is holding talks with Turkey and the United Nations to secure guarantees for grain exports from Ukrainian ports, Zelenskyy said.
- Britain said it would on Tuesday introduce new economic, trade and transport sanctions on Belarus over its support for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and also sanctioned six Russians it said were spreading disinformation.
- Belarus said it was freezing foreign shareholdings in 190 Belarusian companies, including the software engineering company EPAM Systems and Lukoil Belarus, in response to Western sanctions.
Race plays key factor in a society where 10 percent of population owns more than 80 percent of wealth, World Bank says.
South Africa is the most unequal country in the world, with race playing a determining factor in a society where 10 percent of the population owns more than 80 percent of the wealth, a World Bank report has said.
“South Africa… is the most unequal country in the world, ranking first among 164 countries,” the Washington-based institution said Wednesday in a report, Inequality in Southern Africa.
Almost three decades after the end of apartheid, “race remains a key driver of high inequality in South Africa, due to its impact on education and the labor market,” it said.
When race is considered as a factor in income disparities, the report added, “its contribution to income inequality amounts to 41 percent, while contribution of education is reduced to 30 percent.
“The legacy of colonialism and apartheid, rooted in racial and spatial segregation, continues to reinforce inequality.”
The country’s neighbours that make up the rest of the Southern African Customs Union – Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho and Namibia – established in 1910, all finish higher on the list of the most unequal countries in the world.
In the region, women earn on average 30 percent less than men with the same level of education with the pay gap as wide as 38 percent in Namibia and South Africa.
The uneven distribution of agricultural land is also a factor driving inequality, especially in rural areas.
In Namibia, 70 percent of the 39.7 million hectares (98.1 million acres) of commercial agricultural land “still belong to Namibians of European descent”, the World Bank said.
The report was produced before the COVID-19 pandemic and its authors used the Gini coefficient – an indicator of income inequality – to rank countries.
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