Bundesliga could return as early as May 9 after pandemic shutdown

PanARMENIAN.Net - Germany's Bundesliga could be the first major football league back playing amid the coronavirus pandemic, pending approval from the country's government, CNN reports.

The plan could see games restart as early as May 9, with all matches played behind closed doors.

Germany is viewed as one of the European countries that has handled the Covid-19 outbreak but has still registered more than 153,000 confirmed cases and 5,575 deaths.

"The Bundesliga is ready to resume," Christian Seifert, German Football League (DFL), said on Thursday. "Either on May 9 or at a later date.

"It's not in our hands if we return or when. We have several options ... for us what is decisive is what the politicians will decide. It is not for us to decide when."

German Chancellor Angela Merkel will meet with the country's 16 regional leaders on April 30 to discuss whether to extend or relax the restrictions on social distancing that are currently in place across the country until Sunday 3 May.