DFL executive board member
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DFL executive committee member Axel Hellmann has clearly rejected the fan scene’s demand for a new vote by the 36 first and second division clubs on the entry of an investor. “We had a valid proxy vote from Martin Kind. We cannot simply say, because the decision has become legally valid, that we will vote again. “That would give all other clubs that were involved a legal opportunity to take action against a possible new vote,” said Hellmann on Sunday in the “Bild Sport” program on “Welt TV”.
In December of the previous year, 24 of the 36 professional clubs voted yes in the vote on an investor’s billion-dollar entry into the German Football League. This meant that the necessary two-thirds majority was very close to being achieved. Particular attention was paid to Hannover’s majority shareholder Kind, who had been instructed by the parent club to vote against it. It is unclear whether he did this. According to Hellmann, Kind’s vote was “the 24th vote.”
Regardless of this, Hellmann expressed his incomprehension that there had recently been calls for a new vote from the Bundesliga. “None of the 36 clubs submitted a document during the challenge period stating that the vote was not legally effective. None of the 36 clubs objected when it came to the secret vote. We have to take the clubs’ vote seriously,” demanded the Eintracht Frankfurt board spokesman.
In his opinion, the fans’ protests that have been going on for weeks go beyond the rejection of an investor. “It is a fight that gets to the heart of a few fundamental questions in football. “The pressure that has built up in commercialized football over the past few years or even decades from the perspective of the active fan scene is now breaking out,” said Hellmann.
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However, the DFL will not allow itself to be put under pressure by this. “If that means that we are heading towards a game being abandoned, then that will happen and then it will have to be sanctioned. Because we cannot allow games to be canceled in the interests of uniformity, competitiveness and the integrity of football,” emphasized the 50-year-old.
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