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The exceptions concern Dietmar Hopp and TSG Hoffenheim, Bayer Leverkusen and VfL Wolfsburg
Photo: Uwe Anspach / dpa
The German Football League defended the exemption for the Bundesliga clubs Bayer Leverkusen, TSG 1899 Hoffenheim and VfL Wolfsburg from the 50 + 1 rule.
As the ARD “Sportschau” and the “Kicker” reported, this emerges from the 16-page statement by the league to the Federal Cartel Office.
"The DFL eV does not share the preliminary assessment that the 50 + 1 rule in its entirety is contrary to antitrust law due to a synopsis of the so-called subsidy exception (...)," the letter dated September 29th said.
And further: some "arguments and facts" had "not yet been taken into account sufficiently" by the cartel office.
At the request of the »Sportschau«, the DFL announced that it would not comment publicly on this at the moment.
The Cartel Office had classified the 50 + 1 rule, according to which the parent associations must always have the majority of the votes in order to prevent excessive influence from external donors, as fundamentally harmless.
However, it criticized exceptions for the Bundesliga clubs from Leverkusen, Wolfsburg and Hoffenheim and asked them to comment by the end of October.
The three clubs are exempt from the rule because they have received significant support from corporations or an investor for more than 20 years.
The DFL is now hoping for “solution-oriented discussions”, “which will also deal with the possibilities and forms of grandfathering for exemptions that have already been granted”.
She argues that there is no disproportionate advantage for the three clubs in sporting competition.
She tried to prove that, among other things, in a table that shows how often the three clubs have missed a qualification for the Champions League or the Europa League.
In addition, in none of the other top leagues in Europe have so many different teams qualified for the European Cup as in Germany.
This documents "the long-term balance of the Bundesliga competition".
mfu / dpa