Oldenburg – The corona pandemic has not only hit the basketball and handball clubs with full force. The virus will also have a major impact on professionals in both sports. Unlike in football or US basketball, the top players do not earn millions.
«Everyone who can count to three knows what an economic crisis means especially for us athletes. The salaries will definitely go down, »said ex-basketball player Philipp Schwethelm from EWE Baskets Oldenburg in an interview with the German Press Agency.
The same applies to handball players. National player Martin Strobel from the Bundesliga club HBW Balingen-Weilstetten fears cuts for his sport. “I think maybe there could be an adjustment of salaries,” said the 33-year-old to the German Press Agency.
A handball or basketball player can live on his annual salary, which usually equates to the monthly wages of an average football professional. However, he has to “wisely invest” his money for the time after his active time, as the Oldenburg helmet explains. Corona will now cause cuts. “When companies have to cut back on costs, the costs in sport are cut first,” said the 30-year-old, who has been with the German champions of 2009 for five years. The professional, who previously also went basket-hunting in Ulm and at FC Bayern, is “happy” that he is “rather at the end” of his career.
Schwethelm is completely behind this when it comes to salary waiver. The long-range shooter has been on short-time work since April 1. The club around managing director Hermann Schuller, like many league rivals and handball teams, has chosen this route. Not only the professionals and the trainer team but also all employees. “We are ready for this in the club,” emphasized Schwethelm, who also made it clear: “It will hit some players hard.”
The basketball and handball clubs, which rely on spectator and sponsor income, can hardly breathe deeply now. The basketball league is suspended until April 31, handball has set a deadline until May 16. If and how it will go on afterward? Uncertain in every way. “Everyone is very afraid that the current situation will last longer than we can handle”, feared Gottingen managing director Frank Meinertshagen. The Lower Saxony, like some other basketball clubs, prematurely terminated the contracts with some US professionals – for cost and livelihood reasons.
Generous fundraising events such as “We kick Corona” by the two national soccer players Joshua Kimmich and Leon Goretzka are therefore not an issue. «It is the case with us that we are certainly happy to contribute something to generate donations. However, we are not concerned with such sums. Here, the will count more to stand up for certain things, »said the handball player Strobel. “With us, of course, that’s far from the sums that come from other sports.”
Handball and basketball are extremely important weeks ago. The longer the standstill continues, the greater the fear of possible bankruptcies. «I just hope that all the clubs in this league survive and that the players and fans in the league will continue to do as we know them. That’s something I’m very concerned about at the moment, ”said Schwethelm.
