As of: February 21, 2024, 1:52 p.m
By: Niklas Kirk
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The DFL is trying to find a solution to the dispute over the planned investor entry.
However, a new vote would be subject to legal hurdles.
Frankfurt – What’s next for German football and its planned investor entry?
Now that the protests have been increasing in intensity for weeks, a new dynamic is developing at club level that could lead to another vote.
The DFL has already received a corresponding application.
DFL versus fan curves – no stopping of protests in sight
The spectators of the two German professional leagues were offered all sorts of new things over the weekend.
While initially it was just tennis balls that, as expected, caused disruptions on the stadium courts, the new forms of protest could not simply be collected.
In Cologne and Rostock, remote-controlled cars whizzed across the square and forced the security service into a chase; in Freiburg, an unmanned aircraft even sailed through the wide area.
What seems certain is that the DFL cannot wait out the protests.
The supporters are too vehemently opposed to the investment of investors in general and the outcome of the vote in particular.
Players and coaches have recently complained too much publicly about the ongoing interruptions and more and more clubs are insisting on a quick solution to the conflict.
They also did not rule out a repeat of the vote in December.
Protest against the DFL investor deal in Augsburg.
© AFP
Investor entry into the DFL – new vote gets tailwind from clubs
The first step here is 1. FC Köln, which, according to media reports, submitted a corresponding application to the DFL executive board last week with the suggestion of a new vote.
The people of Cologne confirmed the submission of the application after the report.
Other supporters also include FC Schalke and VfL Osnabrück.
At SC Paderborn, it was decided during the general meeting that the club should vote “no” in the event of a new election.
Further prominent voices increased when DFB President Bernd Neuendorf spoke up and described the conflict as damaging to the reputation of German football.
On Saturday (February 17th), DFB sports director Andreas Rettig followed up in the
ZDF sports studio
and called on the parties to the negotiating table, showing understanding for the fans' excitement and sympathizing with the proposal from Cologne.
And the DFL?
Things seem to be moving.
According to a report by the
Frankfurter Rundschau
, Hans-Joachim Watzke, spokesman for the league executive committee, would be willing to agree to Cologne's request.
According to information from the German Press Agency
, exactly how the DFL wants to proceed will
be discussed at a presidium meeting this Wednesday (February 21st).
The meeting will be followed by two information events with the 36 professional clubs at the end of February and another general meeting in March.
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New vote on investor entry?
DFL management would have to be released from mandate
In order to restart the process from the beginning, the DFL leadership would first have to be released from its negotiating mandate.
This would be the core of a new vote.
The DFL managing directors Steffen Merkel and Marc Lenz are legally bound to this final mandate, including the order to bring the negotiations with the bidder CVC to a successful conclusion.
Not least because no club lodged an objection against the result with the responsible arbitration court after the vote in December.
A possible scenario would be to exempt the Presidium from the final mandate by voting and thus gain new design options.
A simple majority would be sufficient here, but it would also include a “yes” or “no” for the already planned business deal with CVC.
Another possibility would be an application for a repeat with the original question of whether negotiations should be carried out with an investor at all.
As before, a two-thirds majority could be achieved here.
So the saga of the football winter seems to have a few more chapters to write before the conflict between the fan curves and the DFL is pacified.
For now, the ball is in the court of those responsible in Frankfurt’s Westend.
(
nki
)