Top-flight German football club Union Berlin is so keen to see its stadium filled with fans once again that it is prepared to pay for coronavirus tests for all of its staff and 22,012 season ticket holders so that they can safely pack the stands.
Germany’s top-flight Bundesliga resumed playing matches in May, but with strict distancing rules that restricted attendance to just a handful of officials, reporters, and camera operators. Coronavirus tests cost around $40 in April, but prices have been falling.
“Our stadium experience doesn’t work with social distancing, and if we aren’t allowed to sing and shout, then it’s not Union,” club chair Dirk Zingler said, adding that the club is prepared to “carry out the costs of implementing the necessary measures ourselves”.
