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

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.

The league conducted a blanket test of 1,724 people associated with the 36 clubs in the top two divisions, and 10 tested positive for the virus, prompting concern over whether the plan to finish the season is wise. But the results don't seem to have changed decision-maker's minds. Results from a second round of mass testing have yet to be released, ESPN notes.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

With all due respect to the Korea Baseball Organization — which began its season Tuesday and is home to good, exciting baseball — the Bundesliga is the first truly major sports league on a global scale to test the waters, so its efforts will be watched closely around the world. Read more at ESPN.