The East German regional leagues still want a reform of the promotion scheme to the 3rd division. After the Northeast German Football Association (NOFV) did not comply with the request for an extraordinary DFB Bundestag, the clubs are asking the association again for support and want to work out a solution together with the teams from the north and Bavaria. The clubs have also started a petition.
The wish: no more playoffs for regional league champions
“Champions should rise” – this is still the demand of numerous East German clubs from the regional league and the 3rd division. The previous system with rotating promotion games between the champions of the north, north-east and Bavaria squadrons is to be abolished. The clubs wanted to have an extraordinary DFB Bundestag convened via the Northeast German Football Association (NOFV). The NOFV, however, rejected the request in the previous week and justified this with a “lack of a basis for decision”..
NOFV clubs are again demanding the support of the association
This in turn led to a lack of understanding among the clubs, which sharply criticized their own association. Now they are addressing their association again under the motto “The ball is no longer round – finally fairness in the promotion race” and are demanding support. In a text published by numerous clubs such as Carl Zeiss Jena, Lok Leipzig, Rot-Weiss Erfurt, Chemnitzer FC or Energie Cottbus, it says: “‘The NOFV stands behind the clubs in this matter.’ That’s what it says in the report from the regional association. Our regional association. We call on the NOFV: It’s time to put yourself in front of your clubs and finally take action. The current promotion regulation contradicts all principles of fair play and equal treatment and thus also the Preamble to the DFB statutes.”
The clubs accuse the associations of inaction: “There remains the uneasy feeling that without rebellious clubs, the regional and state associations would rather sit back and not have to touch this topic in the first place. But please, what is preventing the NOFV and the national associations working to counter an obvious injustice with their own suggestions and ideas?”
Is the NOFV tumbling into a crisis? The clubs in the 3rd league and regional league north-east are no longer satisfied with their association.
Promotion and relegation are not atomic physics – but they have been dividing our football for years. They divide into west and east, north and south, lucky or unlucky. Stop it!
Excerpt from the open letter from the NOFV clubs |
Association should work for clubs
The clubs continue to call on those responsible for the associations to be aware of their responsibility and to act in the interests of their members. “Be on the side of your clubs, then we are on the side of our regional association. It is realistic to discuss a fair regulation within a short time that treats all five regional league champions equally. There are ideas,” the statement continues.
Currently, only the champions of the West and Southwest seasons are promoted directly to the 3rd division. The third climber will be awarded in rotation between the leagues North, Northeast and Bavaria. The remaining two champions will play off the fourth promoted team in a home and away game. This regulation has been criticized for years, the majority is in favor of champions having to advance.
NOFV: Hermann Winkler sees the application as a hasty action
In a presidium meeting last week, those responsible for NOFV around association president Hermann Winkler and the president of the Saxony-Anhalt Football Association (FSA), Holger Stahlknecht, found the efforts of the clubs to be ill-considered. The counter-argument is that there simply isn’t enough preparation time to successfully get a corresponding application through to the DFB level. An official decision about the efforts of the clubs will not be made until November 19th at the 10th ordinary association day of the NOFV.
Clubs start petition and work with other regional leagues to find a solution
In the next three weeks, the clubs want to work together with clubs from the north and from Bavaria to develop and introduce a solution. Besides, they have started a petitionto prompt the NOFV to act. There is a call for support for the project.
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red/dpa
