Merkel: DFL did not allow itself to be blackmailed

Managing director on investor exit

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 relevant question. “The league association and the DFL will continue to have to make long-term and strategically important decisions.” Managing director Martin Kind of the second division club Hannover 96 recently said when asked whether the DFL was being blackmailed by the ultras: “The The question is more than justified. You should never be open to blackmail.”

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 added: “I don’t believe that the termination of the process is a blueprint for further problems, but rather 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.” Added to this 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”.

However, the experiences of the past few weeks should not lead to “games being interrupted in the future over every topic that is controversial 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, emphasized: “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.”

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