According to media reports, Hertha BSC is threatened with a license refusal. Other clubs could benefit from this – in the Bundesliga as well as in the 2nd Bundesliga.
If Hertha BSC does not actually receive a license for the 2023/24 season in the Bundesliga, the rules of the game from the DFL and DFB will regulate the consequences for Hertha and the rest of the league.
What would be the consequences in the Bundesliga?
If a license were refused, Hertha would logically be relegated from the Bundesliga. “The number of clubs relegated from the Bundesliga for sporting reasons (…) is reduced accordingly,” says the DFL rules of the game.
That means: If Hertha finishes in 15th place this season, for example, and manages to stay in the class directly, a Bundesliga club that has lost the relegation could, for example, stay in afterwards if a license is refused. Also the late classification of table 17. could be possible.
A second division team can only benefit from a missing license from Hertha if the Berliners reach the relegation and win. If Hertha were to refuse a license after the relegation matches, the loser from the second Bundesliga would then move up to the Bundesliga despite the defeat.
What consequences would there be in the 2nd Bundesliga?
If Hertha does not receive a license for the 2nd Bundesliga either, the club would be considered relegated to the 3rd division and would have to seek a playing license from the responsible DFB.
According to the DFB rules of the game, in such a case the number of sporting relegations from the 2nd Bundesliga to the 3rd League is reduced accordingly. A second division team would therefore benefit and Hertha would play in the third division, subject to the granting of a playing license by the DFB.
What happens to Hertha?
The “Süddeutsche Zeitung” had quoted an anonymous source in the DFL, who called the situation at Hertha BSC “highly critical”. “It’s the worst case we’ve ever had,” said the person according to “SZ”. On the one hand, it should be about financial problems, but also about the structures since the takeover of the capital shares by the investor 777 Partners, as reported by “Kicker”.
It is not clear when a decision will be made about the license. Last season, the DFL announced on June 3, 2022 that all clubs would receive the license – according to Kicker, however, Hertha alone had until June 7, 2023 to meet the DFL’s demands.