The Bundesliga season will restart on May 16 after a suspension of more than two months, the German football league (DFL) said on Thursday, becoming the first European league to resume amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The DFL said the season will restart under a strict health protocol that bans fans from the stadium, with six games on Saturday, including the high-profile Ruhr valley Derby between Borussia Dortmund and Schalke 04.

The Derby and four other matches will start at 1330GMT (7pm IST) while Eintracht Frankfurt will host Borussia Moenchengladbach at 1630GMT (10pm IST). League leaders Bayern Munich face Union Berlin in one of two games on Sunday while one more will be played on Monday.

“The interest (globally) is big. I see reports from across the world that we are the first major league to return,” DFL CEO Christian Seifert told a news conference. “This is only possible because we have the privilege to live in a country with one of the most modern health systems in the world.”

He was speaking by video conference after a meeting with first and second division clubs following the government’s decision on Wednesday to give the green light for the Bundesliga to restart in the second half of May and throw a financial lifeline to the cash-strapped clubs.

Seifert said there would be no Friday match in the first week as the government’s order was for play to resume in the second part of the month.

“Friday the 15th is not in the second half of the month,” Seifert said.

All teams will have to go into a seven-day training camp in complete isolation prior to May 16 with all players being tested before their inclusion in the camps to reduce the risk of any infection.

About 300 people, including players, staff and officials, will be in and around the stadiums during matchdays.

Germany captain and Bayern ’keeper Manuel Neuer said Bundesliga players have an “enormous responsibility”

“People will be looking at us from other European countries, indeed all over the world,” Neuer told Frankfurt-based newspaper FAZ. “This is an enormous responsibility for us, which we must be aware of with every fibre. It is now up to us.”

The DFL is desperate to finish the season by June 30.

Dybala recovers

Juventus star Paulo Dybala revealed that he has been given the all-clear almost a month-and-a-half after contracting the coronavirus.

Paulo Dybala (Instagram)

“Many people talked in the past weeks ... but I can finally confirm that I am healed,” the 26-year-old wrote on his Instagram account.