German Football League reduced to 6 teams in case of a season
The German Football League will be reduced to no more than six teams should there be a “post COVID-19 lockdown” season in 2020.
That’s the answer the GFL and the German American Football Federation, AFVD, has received from 10 teams after all 16 teams in the GFL had first agreed that a season should be held, pending the number of teams competing.
Given the uncertainty of the situation throughout the country in which each state issues its own rules and restrictions regarding the coronavirus pandemic, 10 teams have opted out of playing this year. All 10 teams took to social media to make the announcement separately.
The only teams who have said they are not opting out at this point are the Schwäbisch Hall Unicorns (state of Baden-
The 10 teams opting out of Germany’s top league this year – the Kiel Baltic Hurricanes, Elmshorn Fighting Pirates, Stuttgart Scorpions, Hildesheim Invaders, Braunschweig New Yorker Lions, Cologne Crocodiles, Frankfurt Universe, Ingolstadt Dukes, Allgau Comets and Ravensburg Razorbacks – have either been prevented from even attempting to practice and play due to state restrictions or simply declined to play for other reasons related to the current situation.
Some states such as Lower Saxony where the New Yorker Lions and Hildesheim Invaders are located, are still enforcing restrictions that prevent practice and games for American football.
For the six remaining teams, the restrictions have been relaxed sufficiently in their respective states that both practice and games can be held. According to earlier statements by the GFL, there will be no “ghost” games, or games in which spectators are not allowed.
The teams will meet July 31 with the AFVD to decide how to proceed and to determine if it is still possible to hold a season keeping in mind the health and safety of all concerned and if so how to organize it. Currently, the season is scheduled to start on the weekend of September 5/6.
