With Schalke 04, Darmstadt 98, Borussia Mönchengladbach and FC St. Pauli, other clubs have shown themselves open to a new coordination process for possible investor entry into the DFL.
FC Schalke 04 has also spoken out in favor of a new vote among all 36 professional clubs. “The developments of the past few weeks raise questions that have not yet been answered. That is why FC Schalke 04 is open to a new vote on the decision on a possible strategic partnership,” said the second division club on Saturday evening (02/17/24) in a statement Notice. Darmstadt 98 also advocated an “open new vote” in a statement on Saturday.
In general, a secret vote is “not a devil’s work and not a mistake,” Borussia Mönchengladbach’s managing director Stephan Schippers said on Friday in an interview published by the club.
“But if it is above all this point at which tempers are so at loggerheads, then we have no problem voting again on whether we want to release the DFL Presidium from the final mandate issued in December – and this “To make voting open, transparent and understandable for everyone,” said Schippers. Gladbach will work towards this after intensive discussions with its fan scene. Gladbach said it voted “yes” in December.
St. Pauli is also in favor of a new voting process
1. FC Cologne announced on Thursday that it would submit an application “to exempt the DFL executive committee from the final mandate issued by the general meeting.” This means that the decision should go back to the 36 clubs.
The FC St. Pauli logo on the Millerntor
FC St. Pauli also referred to this suggestion. “This exact proposal was floated in a DFL executive committee meeting long before 1. FC Cologne – on December 19, 2023,” the blog “MillernTon” quoted the second division club as saying. St. Pauli President Oke Göttlich is part of the DFL executive committee.
However, the club expressed concerns that “a possible new vote allows for major legal interpretations, including possible liability risks against the background of a vote that is hardly formally contestable and a large majority vote of the DFL members to commit the investor process.”
St. Pauli: “There are reservations about credibility”
Approval for the possible investor entry was given at the DFL general meeting on December 11, 2023 with the smallest necessary majority of 24 of the 36 clubs. Martin Kind, majority shareholder of Hannover 96, may have voted “yes” at the time, thus going against the instructions of the parent club.
Several clubs and fan groups suspect that the 50+1 rule has been violated. The right to give instructions by the parent club is the core of this rule; it is intended to ensure the decision-making power for the parent club. According to “MillernTon,” St. Pauli announced that “there are major moral and credibility reservations regarding the vote.”
DFL managing director Merkel announces talks with clubs
DFL managing director Steffen Merkel renewed his willingness to talk to the fans. The concerns would be taken seriously and respected, Merkel said on the TV channel “Sky”. He also announced that they would like to meet with the clubs in the coming days to discuss a possible new vote, but at the moment the majority of clubs are not in favor of it. Before the announced talks with the clubs, Merkel also said: “Until then, and this has also been explicitly discussed in the Presidium, this mandate is valid for now and that we are therefore bound by this mandate – for the time being.” This mandate cannot simply be given up.
More and more clubs are calling for new coordination
Club representatives from numerous clubs from the Bundesliga and 2nd Bundesliga have now spoken out in favor of a new vote or have at least shown themselves open to it. Claus Vogt, President of VfB Stuttgart, promoted this. Clubs like Hansa Rostock and Karlsruher SC also spoke out in favor – all three clubs said they voted “yes”. In addition to Cologne and St. Pauli, Union Berlin, Eintracht Braunschweig and Hertha BSC are three other clubs that made their rejection public. VfL Osnabrück, which had announced an abstention, also spoke out in favor of a new vote.
There is by no means agreement on this issue. Eintracht Frankfurt’s board spokesman Axel Hellmann, who is also a member of the DFL executive board, rejected a new vote. Several other clubs also see it that way. “We currently see no reason to follow one democratic vote with another,” said Borussia Dortmund in response to a query from the magazine “11 Freunde”, which surveyed all 36 clubs. According to the report, Mainz 05, SC Paderborn, RB Leipzig and 1. FC Heidenheim also see no need for further coordination.
“The DFL Presidium has been given a binding final mandate,” said the DFL on behalf of Presidium spokesman Hans-Joachim Watzke. “But if we have the feeling that the majority no longer wants this in March, we will certainly not give our vote against their will. Then we would have a new situation.”
Investor dispute and 50+1 – Germany’s professional football in crisis
The protests in the stadiums, the demands for a new vote by the clubs and the question of a possible violation of 50+1 are plunging German professional football into a crisis. In its preliminary assessment of May 31, 2021, the Federal Cartel Office made it clear that the basic rule of 50+1 was neutral under antitrust law, but the exceptions for the works clubs from Wolfsburg and Leverkusen and, at the time, Hoffenheim were not. The compromise that was then drawn up, but not yet finally agreed upon, in determining the legal certainty of the 50+1 rule may now be called into question again.
In view of the situation surrounding the vote and Hannover 96, the Federal Cartel Office announced in a letter to those involved in the proceedings that it would “familiarize itself with the latest developments regarding the DFL’s application of the 50+1 rule and then discuss how to proceed “. When asked, the DFL said with reference to the agreed compromise: “There are no signs of a fundamental change in this assessment by the Federal Cartel Office.”