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Dietmar Hopp 2020
Photo: Uwe Anspach / dpa
Dietmar Hopp will return his majority voting rights in TSG Hoffenheim-Spielbetriebs GmbH to the parent club TSG 1899 Hoffenheim eV without compensation.
As announced by the Bundesliga soccer team, the previous majority shareholder is waiving the exemption that came into effect on July 1, 2015.
The "kicker" had previously reported about it.
The return means that the Bundesliga soccer club is giving up its special status outside of the 50+1 rule.
The regulation, which only applies to German professional football, basically states that the decision-making majority must always remain with the parent club when investing.
This is to prevent clubs – such as in England – from being sold off in their entirety.
Bundeskartellamt rates exceptions as “problematic”
With his move, Hopp also protects the club from possible negative effects in the near future.
The Bundeskartellamt assessed the exceptions to the 50+1 rule as problematic.
The DFL leadership had recently promised a solution to the problem by the end of March.
"In the course of the debates, it is now important to me to create clear conditions for TSG in terms of the applicable regulations, to which I have always felt obliged," said Hopp.
Leverkusen and Wolfsburg in focus
Alongside Bayer Leverkusen and VfL Wolfsburg, Hoffenheim has so far been one of the exceptions approved by the German Football League (DFL) with a view to the so-called investor ban.
TSG received the special status from July 2015 as a result of Hopp's long-term financial support.
For several years, however, the Hoffenheimer Spielbetriebs GmbH has been financed from its own resources – primarily through transfer surpluses.
He was never concerned with power, Hopp is quoted as saying.
“Before and after the exemption was granted, we always acted in the spirit of 50+1.
The special status was never intended to undermine or undermine this regulation.
I know that the 50+1 rule, which I have always supported, is a great asset in German football."
There is no capital outflow
Most recently, there had been increasing criticism of Hopps' decision-making authority in the environment of the club, which was threatened with relegation.
The return of the rights is to be initiated in the coming days.
A "capital outflow" is not associated with the step, said TSG.
mfu/sid/dpa