The world's first major sports league is set to return this month

Borussia Dortmund stadium.
(Image credit: INA FASSBENDER/AFP via Getty Images)

The sports world is about to turn its attention to Germany, after Berlin and federal states granted the German Football League (also known as the DFL, or Bundesliga) permission to finish up its 2020 season. Games, which will be played without fans, could return as soon as May 15 or May 22, and the hope is to cap the season by the end of June.

Germany has a high coronavirus case load, but has instituted widespread testing and kept its death toll relatively low, considering it's Western Europe's most populous country. So it doesn't come as a shock that it's one of the first places to get sports up and running again. The DFL understands its decision comes with "great responsibility," the league's chief executive Christian Seifert said.

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Tim O'Donnell

Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.