Former Arsenal goalkeeper Jens Lehmann has backed the Bundesliga's upcoming return, saying that the coronavirus isn't a "big concern" for healthy, young athletes.
The German top flight is set to become the first major European league to return from its coronavirus-enforced hiatus when it resumes play on Saturday.
Several other leagues in Europe are hoping to come back next month, while the Eredivisie in the Netherlands and Ligue 1 in France have already pulled the plug on their 2019-20 seasons.
The Bundesliga has said it is going full speed ahead on its return, even after second-division side Dynamo Dresden were forced to postpone their upcoming match after going into quarantine following two players testing positive for Covid-19.
There were also concerns earlier in the month when Bundesliga side Koln confirmed that three people at the club tested positive and had gone into quarantine.
Lehmann, who made just under 400 Bundesliga appearances while playing for Schalke, Dortmund, and Stuttgart, believes the Bundesliga is making the right call, saying that the public will have to learn to live with the virus.
“In the end, you have to live with it, because the only thing that this lockdown is based on is the hope that eventually we are going to find a vaccine or some medicine which cures it. But there’s only hope,” Lehmann told beIN Sports.
“So far we don’t have anything. Because of that, you cannot shut down everything. So you have to get on with it.”
Lehmann himself has recovered from a bout with Covid-19, and the 50-year-old said that the disease should not be a major concern for current players.
“As long as the symptoms are not that bad, I think players have to cope with it," Lehmann said.
"We have plenty of players who were actually infected, and most of them did not even show any symptoms.
"So I think for young, healthy, people with a strong immune system it’s not such a big concern.”
Lehmann recently confirmed that he will become a member of the supervisory board at Bundesliga side Hertha BSC.