The Bundesliga is not expecting fans to be allowed back into stadiums until next season, according to German Football League (DFL) chief executive Christian Seifert, reports, www.sportspromedia.com/.

Games in all elite European soccer leagues are currently being played behind closed doors as countries tighten restrictions to combat the latest wave of coronavirus. Seifert, who heads up the organising body for German soccer's top two professional tiers, does not expect that to change any time soon, in Germany at least, with policy set to remain the same.

"In any case [of fans returning], not in a significant number. If we had ruled out games without fans from the start as some people demanded, the system would have collapsed," Seifert said in comments published by the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung newspaper.

"And no one at [the league] or the clubs wants to have games without fans either. However, we still have them because they are the only permitted option for hosting games, and presumably we will have them until the end of the season."