Sustainability planned as a criterion for licensing

The German Football League (DFL) is planning to anchor the topic of sustainability in the licensing regulations. The 36 clubs in the Bundesliga and 2nd league are to take a corresponding decision in principle in December as a reaction to the recommendations for action by the Taskforce for the Future of Professional Football. The DFL announced this in a media round on Thursday.

At the beginning of the new year, there will initially be a pilot phase without any relevance for licensing. In a subsequent transition phase, the DFL intends to provide support with the adaptation and implementation before a licensing-relevant assessment is carried out for the first time in spring 2023.

“That gives the balance to force measures very early on. On the other hand, the clubs are given a creative leeway,” said Christian Pfennig, member of the DFL management: “As far as I know, it is unique in the world that a league does something like this. That is why it is right to test it once and then focus on it. “

It remains to be seen which specific sustainability criteria are used in the assessment, which incentives are created for the clubs and which sanctions are imposed in the event of misconduct. According to the DFL, these will be worked out in the coming months with the involvement of the clubs.

The report presented by the task force in February contains 17 recommendations for action and a target for 2030 with a view to developments in the areas of sport, social anchoring and sustainable economic activity. At the beginning of March, the DFL announced that it would initially prioritize four steps in the following months.

“We are now basically going into the second round. This is a marathon that you have to be serious about right from the start,” said Pfennig on Thursday. The fan representatives involved in the task force recently called for reforms to be implemented more quickly.