Football investor entry: VfB president advocates new vote
Claus Vogt is the president of VfB Stuttgart. photo
© David Inderlied/dpa
The German Football League has opened itself up to an investor. Many fans are against it and are protesting in the stadium. Now Stuttgart’s club boss has a surprising suggestion.
President Claus Vogt of VfB Stuttgart is in favor of a repeat of the vote on the entry of an investor into the German Football League.
“Our understanding of democracy – including in football – should be: the majority decides,” wrote the 54-year-old on the social media platform X – formerly Twitter. “But if it cannot be ensured that a democratically achieved vote result is correct, we should, in the spirit of democracy and in the spirit of our football, discuss with each other whether a new, transparent vote of all 36 clubs in the DFL is necessary. I mean: yes, it is necessary!”
When asked by dpa, majority shareholder Martin Kind from Hannover 96 held back and referred to the DFL after Vogt’s suggestion: “The presidium and the management have to decide on that. And they have to deal with all scenarios. We know whether the deal could be overturned not me.” He does not believe that opponents of the deal make up the majority in the stadiums.
There was also a debate about the 79-year-old’s voting behavior because of the poor relationship between Kind and the 96-year-old’s parent club. Kind had been instructed by the association to vote against the entry of investors. After the vote, the 96 leader refused to reveal whether he had voted yes or no. Kind referred to the secret vote.
Numerous protests
Recently there were protests from the fan scene in numerous stadiums. The second division game between Hertha BSC and Hamburger SV was on the verge of being canceled last Saturday due to ongoing protests, and many other matches were also temporarily interrupted.
In Berlin, tennis balls were thrown onto the field, and in other arenas, imitation coins were thrown. In addition, banners are constantly being rolled out. On the one hand, the fans are concerned about commercialization, and on the other hand, they fear the influence of an investor. In addition, the way the vote took place in December last year also caused dissatisfaction. The necessary two-thirds majority came with the smallest possible number of yes votes. 24 clubs voted in favor, ten against and two clubs abstained.
dpa
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