Dortmund enthusiastically raffles off full allotment of 25,000 tickets
Plenty of joy was on display on Tuesday as Borussia Dortmund raffled off 25,000 tickets for this weekend's season opener against Frankfurt.
The final details of the plan to allow spectators back into Signal-Iduna Park contained several pleasant surprises.
When it comes time for kick-off in Saturday evening's "Top-Spiel" between Borussia Dortmund and Eintracht Frankfurt, some 25,000 individuals will have the privilege of watching the match live from the Signal-Iduna Park seats. This constituted an increase from the originally planned 22,033.
The final details of the plan to allow spectators back into Signal-Iduna Park contained several pleasant surprises.
Nearly three thousand extra live supporters wasn't the only piece of good news, however. Even though Bundesliga clubs are under no formal obligation to reserve seats for traveling fans until late August, the BVB managed to handle the logistics of it anyway.
Among the fans eligible for a raffle lottery that accorded seats yesterday, just under 700 Eintracht fans received seats. Frankfurt itself announced that their own plans for 25,000 visitors in the round two home opener against Augsburg would proceed exactly as planned.
In terms of how fan-concepts are evolving throughout the Bundesrepublik in general, Dortmund followed Köln's lead in adopting additional restrictions for those unable to demonstrate proof of either vaccination or recovery.
One thousand fans not meeting these criteria were eligible for entry, but only if they belonged to a group (children, young adults, and pregnant women) who could not be vaccinated. These guests must still present a negative PCR test no older than 48 hours at the gate.
German's beheld a long awaited new dissemination of COVID-related rules from their governing regime on Tuesday. The issue as to whether to RKI incidence would still remain relevant in the planning of public events was not specifically addressed. For now, it appears as if the automatic handbrake will remain in place for indoor events. It nevertheless remains to be seen what will become of open-air affairs such as football fixtures.
One thing inherently clear in Chancellor Angela Merkel's address to the German public was that proof of either vaccination or recovery will soon become essential for German citizens wishing to partake in larger scale events. Merkel announced that the government would stop offering free COVID tests and shift as many financial resources as possible towards the distribution of free vaccines.
Samstach is' Spieltach. Mit den besten Fans der Welt im schönsten Stadion der Welt.
— Borussia Dortmund (@BVB) August 10, 2021
Wir freuen uns auf Euch! 🖤💛 pic.twitter.com/8NfayZl9o8