Sport DFL
After the investor deal fell through, Martin Kind is now setting his sights on Watzke
Status: 28.02.2024 | Reading time: 2 minutes
Entrepreneur Martin Kind: Stubborn opponent of the 50+1 rule in the Bundesliga
Quelle: Bongarts/Getty Images/Thomas F. Starke
Managing director Martin Kind complains that Hannover 96 and the dispute over the 50+1 rule are cited as reasons for stopping the DFL’s investor plan. DFL boss Hans-Joachim Watzke in particular is the target of his criticism.
Managing director Martin Kind of the second division club Hannover 96 criticized Hans-Joachim Watzke for his statements at the end of the investor process at the German Football League. In his role as spokesman for the DFL executive committee, Watzke also justified the decision to stop the controversial investor plans with the events at the Lower Saxony club. There has been a long-standing dispute between the management of the Hannover 96 club and the football corporation.
“It is the DFL’s concept. They should also stand by this. “You have developed this strategy and have now ended the process,” said Kind in an interview with the “Süddeutsche Zeitung”. “What does that have to do with my voting behavior?”
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On December 11, the 36 DFL clubs from the First and Second Bundesliga decided on the possible entry of an investor with the required two-thirds majority of 24 votes. 96 managing director Kind is assumed to have voted for it contrary to the instructions of the club’s management.
Portrait in the crosshairs
Resistance to the entry of an investor came primarily from the organized fan scene. There were protests at games in the First and Second Bundesliga and there were numerous interruptions. Child was also the target of protests by Hanover supporters. Banners with his portrait in a crosshairs were displayed around the stadium.
Tasteless banner for the game Hannover 96 against Fürth
Source: Swen Pförtner/dpa
The background is the dispute over the 50+1 rule. This limits the influence of external donors to professional clubs. It is intended to ensure that parent clubs such as Hannover 96 eV retain final decision-making power even if the professional area has been spun off into a corporation such as Hannover 96 GmbH & Co. KGaA.
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Kind is considered a critic of the rule and has been calling for changes for a long time. That’s why he also criticized Watzke for his categorical adherence to 50+1. “I think it is wrong that Mr. Watzke declares the 50+1 rule to be in place in its current form. Because he’s already saying: Changes can’t happen at all,” said Kind.
