Yesterday's decision of the Qatar Football Association (QFA) to resume local competitions from June 24 is a massively pleasing news in time of gloomy headlines grabbed by the coronavirus pandemic impacting the world. Just a day after Germany’s first division Bundesliga kicked off a successful round of matches - following a break of more than two months of no action - QFA has confirmed football teams will play the remaining matches in the QNB Stars League and the Amir Cup, the country’s most popular football tournament.
The football window in Qatar is June 24 to August 26 with matches from the 18th round onward in the QNB Stars League and two semi-finals and a final of the Amir Cup. More details are to be announced at a later date but for the sports fans in the country, there’s plenty to look forward to after months of inactivity on the sporting calendar. In another football news yesterday, the Qatar Stars League (QSL) announced the players will be on vacation from May 17 until June 7 and then report back at their respective clubs for coronavirus tests that will be conducted on every technical, administrative staff and players on June 8 and 9. The QSL said the team training sessions - to be carried out with strict safety protocols - will start on June 10.
The Bundesliga matches on Saturday and Sunday attracted record TV audiences although the matches were played in front of empty, echoing stadiums across Germany. Official stats released yesterday showed record numbers tuning into to watch the five matches played on Saturday. TV viewership topped six million in Germany alone, a record for the football-crazy nation. A spokesman for the German Football League (DFL) informed international media that the first five matches - played on Saturday - were televised by more than 70 broadcasters around the world. Although the French league has already announced PSG as the winners of the 2019-20 season but football pundits are expecting TV viewership to keep breaking records when action resumes in England, Spain and Italy in the coming weeks.
The football activity in Qatar will also be similar in terms of matches being staged in front of empty stadiums considering governments are trying limit the spread of the virus that has already infected more than 4.6 million people around the globe. Empty stadiums may not be the ideal scenario to watch the games but football clearly is providing significant relief to everyone seeking a desperate return to some form of normalcy in everyday life.
