The Fan Scenes Alliance of Germany has announced another campaign match day for the coming match day as a protest against the investment of investors in the DFL.
At the weekend, the 2nd Bundesliga and the 3rd League will also resume play after the winter break, and there will be protests in many stadiums. “Once again there will be no organized support from the corners for the first twelve minutes,” said the German fan scene. Numerous ultra groups and organized fan scenes are part of the alliance.
The reason for the protest remains the planned investor entry into the German Football League (DFL). There was already such an action game day in December after the DFL general meeting decided.
The DFL general meeting decided in December with the smallest possible majority that an investor should share in the DFL’s income for 20 years. In return, the investor is making a payment of around one billion euros, with which the DFL wants to make its business model more digital and international. On Wednesday (January 17, 2024), the DFL Presidium unanimously decided to continue negotiating with only two possible donors.
Criticism of decision making
In addition to the investor entry itself, the fan alliance criticizes the decision-making process. Members were hardly involved. “To top it all off, everything indicates that the decisive vote only came about by breaking the 50+1 rule,” the statement said.
This refers to Hannover 96. Managing director Martin Kind had received instructions from the parent club to vote “no”. However, the fact that Hannover 96 is not among the publicly known “no” votes suggests that Kind voted differently than instructed. The voting behavior of the individual clubs is not understandable; the vote was secret. The DFL called the decision “effective and lawful.”
Demand: Voting should be repeated “with complete transparency”.
Germany’s fan communities formulate a clear demand: “We expect the DFL and therefore our clubs to repeat the vote with complete transparency and compliance with the 50+1 rule.”
According to the announcement, the protests will continue. “No club, no DFL managing director and especially no investor should have the feeling that they can sit out this problem,” said the fan scenes in Germany. “You are mistaken if you believe that you can push through your deal despite all odds.”