The entrepreneur had submitted an application to take over the majority voting rights at Hannover 96.
(Photo: dpa)
Munich The dispute over the influence of investors in the Bundesliga is escalating. The presidium of the German Football League (DFL) unanimously thwarted the motion of entrepreneur Martin Kind to take over the majority in the Bundesliga club Hannover 96 on Wednesday. The owner of a hearing aid chain did not meet the requirement to “significantly promote” the association for at least 20 years.
The DFL now wants the Federal Cartel Office to check itself whether its so-called “50 + 1 rule” complies with the antitrust laws. Kind had threatened to go to court if his application was rejected. “In the past few months there has been an intense, public debate about the 50 + 1 rule. This step is intended to bring clarity to everyone involved, ”said DFL President Reinhard Rauball.
The rule states that the majority of the voting rights in a professional football club must be held by the club behind it. It was last relaxed in 2011. Since then, patrons who have financially supported an association on a large scale for at least 20 years have been able to acquire a majority stake.
According to the DFL’s interpretation, they must have invested at least as much money as the club’s largest individual sponsor. As a result, SAP founder Dietmar Hopp was able to take over TSG Hoffenheim in 2014, which had been promoted from the district league to the Bundesliga with his financial support. For factory clubs such as Bayer Leverkusen and VfL Wolfsburg, which is supported by Volkswagen, there were already exceptions.
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In view of the growing economic superiority of English and Spanish clubs, the DFL had recently thought aloud about opening the Bundesliga more to investors. In March, however, a majority of the clubs in the 1st and 2nd Bundesliga refused to relax the “50 + 1 rule” – contrary to what Kind had hoped for. The latter then renewed his application for a special permit.
Recently, some Bundesliga clubs had to let important players go because they couldn’t compete for transfer fees and salaries. This scratches the international sporting success as well as the attractiveness of the Bundesliga. In England and Spain many clubs are mostly owned by financially strong investors or listed on the stock exchange. The soccer Bundesliga has been dominated by FC Bayern Munich for years.
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