Speaking to Bild, Borussia Dortmund CEO and DFL supervisory board chairman Hans-Joachim Watzke has attempted to deescalate the backlash surrounding the DFL investor deal.
On the searching of an investor for the deal, Watzke said: “If someone is negative about this process, you have to accept it. It just has to remain respectful and must not escalate further. I ask the fan scenes at this point not to push the escalation point further! Our conversation offer is ready, we are all of course ready to have these conversations. Not public, but trust-strying. We have to get into intensive dialogues as soon as possible.”
The Dortmund CEO then gave his thoughts on the continued protests towards the deal: “I ask the fan scenes at this point not to push the escalation point further! Our conversation offer is ready, we are all of course ready to have these conversations. Not public, but trust-strying. We have to get into intensive dialogues as soon as possible. And we can also discuss other core topics such as 50+1 – a rule that I will personally always stick to. We must all be aware of our responsibility for German football. If you cancel a game, you massively damage your own club.
Watzke also spoke on his opinion on investors in the league: “We have to relax the relationship with investors. An investor is not fundamentally a bad thing. But the interests of the investors must be harmonized with those of the fans and members. We must protect the feelings of the fans and still must not close ourselves to the competition. We have done this with the present model. We do not sell shares, but are looking for a partner who will take us further overall. Above all, it says: We may not and will not sell ourselves to any partner! CVC knows that there will be zero influence with us. Zero! There will be no new kick-off times and nothing like that with us! We need them for international marketing, their task is to help us reach fans all over the world better. They have accepted all our red lines and do not want to reform our football – we ourselves are responsible for this!”
Finally, the chairman then said why investors may be important for the future of the Bundesliga: “This would lead to an international loss of importance for the league. I assume that the Bundesliga can generate up to 250 million euros more through a deal in the next five to six years. If it does not happen, we will still have a good league, but we will become weaker in the broad in the medium term, then we may fall to the level of other nations. By the way, we would not have needed the money if the coronavirus pandemic had not existed. Just a reminder: BVB alone has lost 151 million euros as a result. That’s why it’s not so easy for many clubs under the 36 to raise money of the necessary scale to invest in the topic of all of us.”
Recently there has been increased backlash from clubs towards the investor as it is assumed that Hannover 96’s minority investor Martin Kind voted against the club’s wishes back in December. This has seen several clubs call for a redo of the vote, whilst on the pitch there have been protests throughout the leagues as fans voice their disapproval of allowing investors in the league.
GGFN | Jack Meenan
