DFL Investor Scrapped

It has most certainly been an interesting day in the world of German football, following the announcement this morning that Thomas Tuchel would be leaving Bayern at the end of the season, another bombshell was dropped in the afternoon. The DFL announced they would be ending the process of looking for an investor.

DFL spokesperson Hans-Joachim Watzke said, “Successful continuation of the process does not seem possible in view of the current developments. Even if there is large support for the necessity of the strategic partnership – German professional football is in the midst of a test, which not only provides great conflicts within the league association between the clubs but partly also within the clubs: between professionals, coaches, club managers, supervisory bodies, member meetings and fan communities. The sustainability of a successful contract in the sense of financing the 36 clubs can no longer be ensured in view of the circumstances in the league association.”

It all started going wrong for Watzke and the DFL last week: first, Blackstone announced that they were pulling out of the bidding thanks to the protests as well as what they perceived as hesitancy from the clubs, secondly the Cartel Office (Bundeskartellamt) announced that they were looking into the 50+1 rule again due to the secret nature of the vote that saw the investor pass with 24 clubs supposedly in favour. Particularly controversial was Martin Kind, Hannover had instructed him to vote no, but his overwhelming support for an investor in the media mixed with his refusal to say which way he voted has led to an obvious conclusion for many. Once again there were large stoppages to games across the Bundesrepublik this weekend, after the prior week saw Union score in the 71st minute of the first half, more games found themselves entering that territory, Hannover’s game in the 2. Bundesliga against Greuther Fürth would see the second half end in the 122nd minute. We also saw the introduction of toy planes and cars to go along with the tennis balls and chocolate coins that have been invading pitches over the last few months.

The statement from the DFL did directly address the controversy with Hannover and the Cartel Office, “[The December vote] is considered to be legal within the Presidium and, according to the assessment of legal experts. Nevertheless, it must not be overviewed that this vote is lacking in broad acceptance due to the events around Hannover 96.”

That leads to a notable worry with this withdrawal. Had the DFL held a vote in March, which seemed the be the original plan, a secret vote would have led to more pressure from the Cartel Office and fans, and an open vote would be admittance that the secret vote was the wrong option. Nevertheless, had they gone through with an open vote that saw a rejection, that would fully confirm that the DFL did not have the support of the clubs in pursuing an investor. By just abandoning the project now, they can later pick it up again with a referral to the December vote as showing they have the support to do so. If they were to pursue this path, the protests would most certainly escalate.

However, for the time being, the fans won. They stated their disdain for the investor and as a result, the process to find one has been halted. One has to assume that those who were interested in bidding will now be completely put off, just like Blackstone were by the difficulties attached. Now, there has to be more assurances to make sure this controversy cannot happen again. Most important is that all votes that the DFL undertake have to be open ballots, we need to know who voted for what. As they admitted in their own statement, the state of Hannover’s vote has led to far too many headaches for the DFL, fans, and the Cartel Office. 50+1 cannot be risked by those who are happy to throw it away to get what they want (I’m looking at you Martin Kind). It also needs to be noted that the fans need to be ready to protest again, which I’m sure they will be. This idea has been abandoned for now, but just like the Super League, it will always be there in the background, threatening to take away from us what we love the most. Whilst the battle is over, the war is likely to not end here.