Germany’s Basketball Bundesliga resumed play over the weekend with a 10-team, 36-game tournament that will last three weeks. One of the precautions the league is using to prevent the spread of COVID-19 is to monitor proximity of players when in their accommodation via Kinexon devices.
Wearing the sensors is voluntary, according to ESPN, but Bayern Munich general manager Marko Pesic said players will be "strongly encouraged" to use them. Notably, the league does not have a players union and athletes were not consulted about the tracking devices.
"Unfortunately there is no players' union here," one German agent told ESPN. "That definitely has been a topic for everything going on with this tournament. Players weren't asked for their input early on, regardless of these movement chips."
The Kinexon wearables will only be used while players are inside their team hotels, not during basketball activities or trips outside the hotel. All movement within the arena that is hosting games and the practice facility will be recorded by cameras that are already in place. Only two medical professionals sanctioned by the BBL will have access to the tracking data, and only if there is a positive COVID-19 test. (The league is planning to administer 2,750 COVID-19 tests during the tournament.)
If a player tests positive, the league will isolate that player and conduct contract-tracing to see who else he could have been in contact with. According to Kinexon, the sensors do not track location, but simply measure the proximity between each other. If two sensors come within 6 feet, Kinexon counts that as contact. Players who wear the sensors are not required to wear masks in hotels. And If a player chooses not to wear the devices, he will be required to quarantine if another player tests positive.
"It is voluntary, it is optional. It is to trace contacts. If there is one positive test within the group, the whole group could be in danger. It could be the end of the tournament,” Basketball Bundesliga commissioner Stefan Holz told ESPN.
Kinexon’s devices are already used by teams in the NBA to track player fatigue and monitor training loads during practices. During the pandemic, the company launched SafeZone, a sensor-embedded wristband that lights up when those wearing the device are within six feet of each other. The device is being worn by stadium employees in Germany’s Bundesliga soccer league.
ESPN reports that NBA officials are paying close attention to the German basketball league’s restart as the NBA prepares to resume play in Orlando on July 31. However, the NBA has decided against using tracking devices to monitor players during its tournament according to Shams Charania of The Athletic.
