COLOGNE (dpa-AFX) – 1. FC Cologne is also apparently campaigning for a new vote on the investor issue in the German Football League (DFL). The decision made for a negotiation and final mandate from the DFL Presidium is “on a very fragile foundation,” wrote the FC management in a letter to the DFL Presidium, from which the ARD Sportschau quoted on Thursday. A copy of the letter is said to have been sent to all clubs in the DFL.
The people of Cologne promptly announced a formal application “to exempt the DFL executive board from the final mandate issued by the general meeting.” The decision about investor involvement should go back to the 36 clubs in the Bundesliga and 2nd Bundesliga. If an extraordinary general meeting is required for this, 1. FC Cologne will also request this. Before Cologne, other clubs such as 1. FC Union Berlin had also called for a new vote.
Due to the controversial role of managing director Martin Kind of second division team Hannover 96, there is a suspicion that “there has been a violation of the 50+1 rule,” the letter continues, according to Sportschau. The people of Cologne, who said they voted no in the vote on a strategic marketing partnership at the general meeting on December 11th, emphasized that “one of the most far-reaching decisions ever for German professional football, with a commitment period of up to 20 years, is not possible “has to be legitimized” with the help of legal expert assessments and reports, but rather on the basis of an undisputed decision.
Hanover’s club management had instructed Kind to vote against the investor’s entry. However, the voting results and the public confessions of the respondents suggest that Kind voted yes and thus helped the DFL plan gain the necessary majority.
“Only I know how I voted,” the 79-year-old told “NDR Info” on Thursday. In view of the ongoing and sometimes escalating protests from the fan scene, Kind expressed understanding for the withdrawal of the potential investor Blackstone. “What happened next in the active fan scene certainly made those responsible think,” said Kind.
DFL executive committee member Axel Hellmann recently clearly rejected the call for a new vote. “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 vote against one possible new vote,” Hellmann said in the “Bild Sport” program on Welt TV./jso/DP/he