Bundesliga club Hertha BSC is facing personnel cuts in the struggle for financial recovery and in the fight for a license for professional football.
“We are in a restructuring process. We have to fundamentally reduce personnel costs,” said Hertha’s sports director Benjamin Weber before the Bundesliga game at 1. FC Köln on the “DAZN” streaming service. The licensing process is ongoing, so it makes little sense to add fuel to the fire.
Possible violation of the 50+1 rules
Most recently, the Bundesliga club, which was threatened with relegation, had acknowledged a difficult financial and investor situation and confirmed intensive contacts with the German Football League (DFL) “both with regard to the ongoing licensing process and the content of the partnership with our investor 777 Partners”.
According to a report in the “Süddeutsche Zeitung”, the new deal between the Berliners and the investor 777 Partners is also under close scrutiny. The primary question is whether the engagement with the US company violates the 50+1 rules, which limit the influence of financiers in German professional football.
It is indisputable that Berliners are in an extremely difficult economic situation. Without the EUR 100 million financial injection announced by 777 Partners, the DFL license requirements, which are said to be due by June 30th, cannot be met. So if the deal with the US financier fails due to formal objections, the Berliners are threatened with the withdrawal of their right to play in the Bundesliga and 2nd Bundesliga. A crash up to at least the regional league is the threatening backdrop. Hertha managing director Thomas E. Herrich recently admitted that the current bottom of the Bundesliga was a “restructuring case”.
Weber did not want to comment on the financial situation and the criticism of the resignation of Hertha board member Ingmar Pering. Rather, the sports director referred to the general meeting scheduled for Sunday. “Our job is sport and it’s about reducing the volume a bit,” explained Weber.