Vor a good two weeks, when Frankfurter Eintracht played in Munich, it wasn’t a nice day for Hessen. The Frankfurters, who have earned more and more respect in the league over the past few years, went down without a sound with 0: 5. In terms of sport, there was nothing for her to gain from the German number one.
But at the management level of the two clubs they got closer on that day, although there is also a world between the two clubs in terms of financial clout. The national croesus from Munich and the SME representatives from Frankfurt, despite all their differences, also looked at their common interests during the crisis on that day. They looked for and found matches, something that has been going on within the league for months.
A “G15” of German football
These days, the two clubs are therefore also representative of the majority of the league, which is looking for new paths. In the coming week, the representatives of 15 professional clubs, a “G15” of German football, will meet in Frankfurt for the first time to look for a common way through the crisis. Or better, in the various crises that are currently keeping professional football in suspense: Corona, the power struggle in the German Football Association (DFB) and, last but not least, the open leadership question in the German Football League (DFL). In addition, the distribution of the television money among the clubs from the 2021/22 season is due for four years, an average of 1.1 billion euros per season.
The meeting in Frankfurt is now taking place at the invitation of Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, the chairman of the FC Bayern board. Eintracht board member Axel Hellmann will be the host in Frankfurt. FC Bayern with Rummenigge at the helm and the other top clubs are the engine of this development, according to which a larger group of German professional clubs should now try to formulate their common interests on central issues.
So far, FC Bayern has been considered the most powerful representative of its own interests and that of a few top clubs, which include Borussia Dortmund and RB Leipzig. But Leverkusen and Mönchengladbach have also recently made contact with this group. Last season, the Champions League clubs at the time had already set up a solidarity fund with 20 million euros in the Corona crisis. Without Bayern (and the other top clubs), as most other clubs have now realized, there can be no common path.
Claim to power: does Rummenigge only represent the interests of FC Bayern?
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Eintracht Frankfurt belongs to the group of big-city middle-class and traditional clubs, which in the past saw themselves as neglected opponents of the big players, especially in financial matters. They also felt threatened by smaller but financially strong investor clubs. In the meantime, however, most of these clubs have one thing in common: they define themselves as an integral part of the league.
At the meeting in Frankfurt, 14 top division clubs will be there, as well as HSV, the table leader in the second division. VfB Stuttgart, Mainz 05, Arminia Bielefeld and FC Augsburg do not belong to the group. These four belong to or sympathize with a group that recently called for a strong redistribution of national and international television funds in a position paper, also with the support of second division clubs. You are at the door in Frankfurt because some clubs are annoyed that this group not only asked legitimate questions about the television money, but also provided the answer. However: With the other topics that are to be discussed in Frankfurt, they are also not desired, although common ground is sought. That should lead to tensions within the league. There is a tendency for the “G15” to become a “G18” or a “G20”.
Leadership vacuum: who will succeed Seifert at the top of the DFL?
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Above all, the existence-threatening corona crisis is keeping the league in suspense. In Frankfurt, the clubs want to exchange ideas about the financial and organizational difficulties, but also look for a common line towards politics, which has issued a spectator ban for this month due to the infection situation. Some clubs had criticized this decision and brought legal action into play, others showed understanding for the closure of the stadiums and criticized the critics from within their own ranks.
Power struggle between Keller and Curtius
The central topic is likely to be the future of the DFL, whose managing director Christian Seifert announced his retirement for summer 2022 two weeks ago. The DFL Supervisory Board is responsible for looking for a successor to Seifert. The fact that the new DFL managing director would only be selected by these people or in the same way as DFB President Fritz Keller was selected by a small association commission in the same way as last year is a horror for some club representatives. A way should therefore be sought, which process of finding candidates could also meet with broad approval from the clubs. Candidates are unlikely to be the issue at this point, but a new distribution of tasks at the top of the DFL, which is widely regarded as necessary after the one-man show under Seifert.
The power struggle in the DFB between President Fritz Keller and General Secretary Friedrich Curtius is also followed with concern among the professional clubs and in the DFL. The clubs fear that the weakness of the DFB and the continuing loss of reputation of the association are damaging all of professional football. Even if the long-standing Freiburg President Keller has shown weakness during his one-year term in office at the DFB, with his goodwill and the pursuit of change he should not become a victim of long-term structures that hinder or prevent necessary reforms, according to some clubs . A premature failure of Keller should be prevented.
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