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Dortmund Cancel Ticket Sales for Bayern Clash amid Rising COVID Cases

General view inside Dortmund's Signal Iduna Park stadium. (Reuters file photo)
General view inside Dortmund's Signal Iduna Park stadium. (Reuters file photo)
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Dortmund Cancel Ticket Sales for Bayern Clash amid Rising COVID Cases

General view inside Dortmund's Signal Iduna Park stadium. (Reuters file photo)
General view inside Dortmund's Signal Iduna Park stadium. (Reuters file photo)

Borussia Dortmund have canceled the sale of tickets for Saturday's marquee match against Bayern Munich due to the prevailing COVID-19 situation in Germany, the Bundesliga club said on Wednesday.

Germany, struggling to contain the fourth wave of the coronavirus pandemic, reported the highest number of COVID-19 related deaths since mid-February on Wednesday (446), with the overall death toll rising to 101,790.

"Because of the current COVID-19 situation in Germany, Borussia Dortmund are canceling the advance ticket sale for the top of the table Bundesliga clash against Bayern Munich on Saturday," Dortmund said in a statement.

"Those who have purchased tickets will get their money back. All of the 67,000 tickets that were available... had already sold out a few days ago.

"However, the state government is currently expected to reduce game capacities within the next few days due to the pandemic."

On Tuesday, the premier of the eastern state of Saxony had said that Germany will decide on Thursday if all Bundesliga matches should be played in empty stadiums.

Earlier, the premier of the southern state of Bavaria had called for matches to go ahead without fans. He also said that if necessary, Bavaria - home to Bayern - would introduce a spectator ban if it was not implemented nationwide.

Clubs in Germany played in empty stadiums last year when matches resumed following a shutdown due to the pandemic.

Dortmund are second in the league on 30 points after 13 matches, one point behind leaders Bayern.

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Lando Norris Wins, Nico Hulkenberg Makes History at British GP

McLaren driver Lando Norris of Britain celebrates winning the Formula 1 British Grand Prix at the at the Silverstone Circuit racetrack, Britain, 06 July 2025. EPA/PETER POWELL .
McLaren driver Lando Norris of Britain celebrates winning the Formula 1 British Grand Prix at the at the Silverstone Circuit racetrack, Britain, 06 July 2025. EPA/PETER POWELL .
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Lando Norris Wins, Nico Hulkenberg Makes History at British GP

McLaren driver Lando Norris of Britain celebrates winning the Formula 1 British Grand Prix at the at the Silverstone Circuit racetrack, Britain, 06 July 2025. EPA/PETER POWELL .
McLaren driver Lando Norris of Britain celebrates winning the Formula 1 British Grand Prix at the at the Silverstone Circuit racetrack, Britain, 06 July 2025. EPA/PETER POWELL .

McLaren's Lando Norris won his first British Grand Prix -- his home-country event -- in a race that had no shortage of twists and turns.

Beginning under dry skies that soon turned rainy at Silverstone Circuit in Northamptonshire, England, the race also saw Germany's Nico Hulkenberg finish third. For the 37-year-old Kick Sauber driver, it was his first podium in 239 Formula One starts.

And the second-place finisher, McLaren's Oscar Piastri, put himself in great position when he passed polesitter Max Verstappen of Red Bull, but that all changed when Piastri was penalized 10 seconds for coming out of a safety car restart too slowly.

And for Brit Lewis Hamilton, the defending champion, it was a fourth-place finish at his home grand prix. It marked his first finish off the podium after 12 consecutive podiums at the event, with his late push falling short, Reuters reported.

Verstappen finished fifth, falling out of the top three following a spin off the course.

Norris won in one hour, 37 minutes and 15.735 seconds, finishing 6.812 seconds ahead of his Australian McLaren teammate.

Hulkenberg held off Hamilton by just over five seconds.

As expected, two of the top three finishers were overjoyed in their post-match comments -- with one not so much.

"It is beautiful. Apart from a championship, this is as good as it gets in terms of feelings," Norris said of the win in England. "Incredible race, stressful as always but the support from the fans made the difference so I have to thank them.

"The main thing is don't it up, that is rule number one. It might never happen again. Hope it does, but these are memories I'll have forever."

Hulkenberg was equally jubilant, especially since he started 19th on the grid.
"It's been a long time coming hasn't it?! What a race, coming from virtually last. ... Crazy conditions, survival mode all race. We were really on it, no mistakes," he said.

"Today, I was in denial until the last pit stop and then I heard we gapped Lewis so I thought OK, breathing space but then he was closing. The pressure was there, intense race but we didn't crack."

Piastri declined to go into details after the penalty, which he served at a pit.
"I'm not going to say much, I'll get myself in trouble," he said. "Congrats to Nico, that's the story.

"Apparently you can't brake behind the safety car anymore. I had done it for five laps before but I'm not going to say more, I'm going to get myself in trouble. I still like Silverstone even if I don't like it today."