After violent fan protests, the DFL stopped negotiations with an investor. Now one of the managing directors is commenting on the matter for the first time.
From the point of view of managing director Steffen Merkel, the German Football League (DFL) did not open itself up to blackmail by breaking off negotiations for the entry of an investor.
“No,” said Merkel in an interview with “Kicker” in response to a corresponding question. “The league association and the DFL will continue to have to make long-term and strategically important decisions.”
Before the decision to stop, there were massive fan protests in numerous German stadiums. Games had to be interrupted and some were about to be canceled.
Merkel: No blueprint for further problems
Merkel added: “I don’t believe that the termination of the process is a blueprint for further problems, but that several specific factors came together here: different opinions about where football wants to go, which have been simmering for years, have broken out on the topic of strategic partnership.”
Merkel also said: “In addition, there was the debate about the moral legitimacy of the vote, which consequently led to even extensive forms of protest such as long interruptions in the game being tolerated until the end.”
“Nobody can be interested in that.”
However, the experiences of the past few weeks should not lead to “games being interrupted on every topic that is controversial in the future and thus having a massive influence on sporting competition. Nobody can have an interest in that.”
Nevertheless, conclusions can be drawn from the process. Marc Lenz, also managing director of the DFL, said: “For example, agreements on far-reaching topics in the league association must be intensively conducted and also strengthened within the clubs so that a broad basis continues to exist even after votes and in the follow-up processes.”
Ex-boss: Clubs have no unity
For former DFL managing director Christian Seifert, the lack of unity among the 36 Bundesliga clubs in the DFL and the caving in to the fans are the reasons for the failure of the investor deal. “The majority within the league was no longer there, that was the decisive factor,” said the 54-year-old in an interview with the “Schwäbische Zeitung”.
In addition, a loud group managed to “make the clubs give in, which were previously a bit in favor of it, but not really.” The question, however, is: “Are those who loudly express their opinion really THE fans or just some fans. Objectively speaking, THE fans don’t even exist.” Rather, it was about “that a certain group of fans generally viewed this investor process very critically and torpedoed it,” said Seifert.
Seifert: “That’s not a good sign”
In addition, in his experience, there are always four groups in a league – regardless of the topic. “One group is for it, the second group thinks it’s quite good and goes along with the first, the third group doesn’t really care and the fourth is against it,” explained Seifert, who was in office for 17 years in the DFL. “And a secret vote usually always benefits those who don’t want to publicly confess – and that’s not a good sign.”
He is also critical of the discussion about the 50+1 rule, which is defended by the fans and which ensures the permanent majority for the parent club of the DFL clubs. “In reality, 50+1 is actually more like 5+95, because you rarely find more than five percent of club members who actually vote at general meetings,” explained Seifert. “And that is often the intention.”
It is not possible to vote by postal vote in any of the 36 professional clubs. “Does the entire club really have the final say? That’s why I think professional football would do itself a favor to openly and honestly address where it actually stands, what and how much the 36 clubs still have in common, as in the Reality stands at 50+1.” He understands that there are different opinions, but believes “it is time to have an honest debate about who really owns professional football,” said Seifert.