The CEO Alexander Wehrle from Bundesliga club VfB Stuttgart is still on the 50 + 1 rule in professional football.
“I am a very clear advocate of 50+1 because that has always distinguished football in Germany,” Wehrle told the “Bild” newspaper. “That’s why I wish that we stick with it. I don’t currently see any tendencies that we want to get away from this rule.”
According to 50+1, investors in the German Football League (DFL) cannot take a majority vote in the corporations of clubs. In the Premier League, on the other hand, that is possible.
Even if English clubs have an advantage over German clubs due to this difference and significantly higher TV money, “top stars” must be kept in the Bundesliga, said Wehrle. “After the DFL’s investor deal didn’t work, we need to look at how we can invest in topics such as internationalization, digital transformation and infrastructure in order to close the gap to the Premier League through international income,” explained the 48-year-old .