Hans-Joachim Watzke after a failed plan to invest: “Separating the leagues is the last resort”

DFL supervisory board chairman Hans-Joachim Watzke does not see a split between the 1st and 2nd leagues as banned after the failed plan for an investor to enter German professional football.

“As far as I know, the 1st league voted 13:5 for an investor entry. That means more than two thirds,” said the club boss of runner-up Borussia Dortmund in an interview with the picture on sunday.

This process was initiated “to drive foreign marketing forward – of course a core concern of the first division clubs. So if the 1st league has the feeling that the 2nd league will ultimately decide things that mainly affect the Bundesliga , then there is a feeling of disturbance in many places. I don’t want to downplay that. Now we have to see if we can calm these waves…” said the 63-year-old.

On the subject of separation, the BVB boss remarked: “That is expressly not my personal wish. Separating the two leagues can only ever be the ultima ratio.”

The issue of investors is now off the table, “the potential investors are already very irritated by the events,” emphasized Watzke: “The executive committee meeting is next week and it is already clear that the economic situation is becoming much less comfortable. Everything else is first not in public.”