DFL boss Donata Hopfen is committed to 50+1

The new top of the German Football League (DFL) has committed itself to the 50+1 rule. “With us, the clubs and their members have the say, no oligarchs – that should remain so in the future,” said DFL boss Donata Hopfen on Thursday on the website of the league association: “Against this background, solutions must be found together with the Federal Cartel Office in the interest of everyone 36 clubs can be found.”

50+1 is intended to limit the influence of investors and maintain the club’s character. Accordingly, the majority of the voting rights must always lie with the club. There is an exception rule for Bayer Leverkusen, Wolfsburg and TSG Hoffenheim because their investors have been active for more than 20 years. Critics see the fact that the financiers have compensated for the losses of the clubs several times in the past as a distortion of competition.

The Bundeskartellamt recently came to the conclusion that the principle of the 50+1 rule is fundamentally unobjectionable from the point of view of antitrust law. However, the office expressed doubts about the exceptions for the three clubs.