GERMANY'S BUNDESLIGA SET TO RESUME IN MAY

GERMANY'S  BUNDESLIGA TO KICK OFF IN MAY

CHANCELLOR Angela merkel, made this announcement which had been widely expected,  as part of measures to begin  easing the country's lockdown with an aim to halt the spread of the virus.

she said "we have a very, very good development of the figures  of new infections, and that makes it possible for us to take further steps."

she said regional authorities will have to draw up a plan to reimpose measures for any country that has a report of 50 new cases for every 100,000 inhabitants within a week. the above restriction is to be applied only to facilities such as nursing home, if the virus is concentrated there, or to the entire vicinity. with an aim to avoid reimposing a shotdown nationwide.

"we must take care that things don't get out of hands, and i have a good feeling because we agreed on this emergency mechanism today," she sad.\

"we are not just saying that we are opening, but also that if something happens locally we won't wait until it has spread through the whole republic."

The DFL will hold an assembly with it's 36 members club on Thursday, followed by a news conference in which more details would be given.

there was also a government statement that said, teams would have to go into quarantined training  camps before the restart.

German league has been on hold since mid-march because of the outbreak of covid-19.

officials from the 16 states held a teleconference with merkel on Wednesday to discuss easing the country's lockdown measures.

The coronavirus outbreak has brought football to a standstill around the world and Germany's progress is likely to be closely watched by other leagues.

Bayern Munich, chasing an eighth successive title, currently lead the table with 55 points from 25 games, four ahead of Borussia Dortmund with RB Leipzig third on 50.

At the bottom, Werder Bremen and Paderborn are in the drop zone with Fortuna Duesseldorf in 16th, which is the relegation/promotion play-off spot.

Germany's professional teams have been training since mid-April, divided into small groups and under strict conditions, including extensive testing of all players and coaching staff.

On Monday, the DFL said it registered 10 positive cases in a blanket test of 1,724 players and staff at its 36 first and second division clubs.

German officials on Wednesday also cleared the way for restaurants, hotels and remaining stores to reopen in the coming weeks.