Borussia Mönchengladbach has put up cardboard cutout places for sale

Quarantine is often classified as a negative situation. Surely not experiencing sport as a first gives an overwhelming feeling, but at the same time there is someone who took advantage of these empty days to organize one of the craziest initiatives of 2020. The crazy/brilliant creator is Ingo Müller, one of the most influential members of Borussia Mönchengladbach supporters.

Borussia Mönchengladbach is currently fourth in the standings in the Bundesliga, one of the leagues that seems to be among the most ready to restart the championship. Although in recent days there has been much discussion about the real effects of the less restrictive measures decided by the German government, Germany has 7.61 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants, a rather low figure if compared with 64.18 in "small" Belgium and 35.37 of France (both the Belgian championship and Ligue 1 are officially suspended). There is no bet on the immediate resumption of the Bundesliga, but Ingo has the solution.

Borussia-Park can host 59,724 people, but the moments when players can feel the warmth of their fans are still far away. the recovery will surely be behind closed doors and this is where the genius/madness of the Borussia Mönchengladbach fan comes into play. Müller has spent the last 3 weeks designing in detail a platform through which you can book a place at the stadium to place a cardboard cutout and prevent the stadium from being completely empty. The "ticket" costs € 19 and the proceeds of this initiative will be entirely donated to associations engaged in the fight against coronavirus. But that is not all.

At this link  ou can start the procedure to virtually enter the stadium when the championship resumes. Just take or upload a photo (strictly in the stadium outfit complete with the Mönchengladbach jersey), fill in a form with some information, make the payment and the photo will automatically arrive at a printing office in the city. The most surprising thing is not so much the number of requests (already over 10,000), but to those who made them. Among these 10,000 orders there are not only Borussia fans but also teams that will play at Borussia Park! In short, on the one hand cardboard that will "applaud" and "support" the home team, on the other who will "whistle" the hosts.

"Football fans in Germany are not the smartest people in the world," jokes Ingo Müller. "We had to make it easy for them. It's fantastic to see that the orders come not only from local fans, but also fans from opposing teams. It would be fantastic to see this initiative extended to all the teams in the championship, but the very strong rivalries will not allow anything to all this. Imagine if Bayern Munich would be willing to 'copy' from the others, I'm sure they are pissed off because the idea didn't come to them".

At Borussia-Park, 3,000 cardboard cutout have already been placed, awaiting new provisions for placing the remaining orders. Initiative that also involved and convinced Markus Artez, head of media and communications of the German team: "When the players go through the tunnel and see those fans in the stands, they will have the feeling of being observed and this is a good feeling compared to the sad empty seats It will be fun and it is in all respects a demonstration of love from our fans to the team".

"The best thing about this initiative will be the zero impact on the stadium, because there will be no garbage to collect. However, there will be no beers and sausages. When we can be physically at the stadium, it will be time to celebrate, especially with the people who have joined the project "closes Ingo.