Watzke: 'No change to 50+1 in next few years'

The chairman of the German Football League (DFL)'s supervisory board and chief executive of Borussia Dortmund Hans-Joachim Watzke has reiterated his commitment to German football's so-called "50+1" ownership rule.

"There's no point discussing 50+1 anymore," he told Sunday tabloid BILD am Sonntag. "Because, as long as I am chairman of the DFL's supervisory board, there will be no change to it. That is one hundred percent certain."

Watzke, 63, was responding to comments from former Bayern Munich club president Uli Hoeness, who had recently told German media that the 50+1 rule, which limits the influence of outside investors in clubs, was holding German football back.

"If the Bundesliga doesn't think about scrapping the 50+1 rule, we will have big problems keeping up internationally in the long run," Hoeness, now honorary Bayern president, had opined.

Since the all-German Champions League final between Bayern and Dortmund at Wembley in 2013, only Bayern have ever made it to the semifinal, losing on four out of five occasions. RB Leipzig made the final four in 2020, albeit under pandemic-enforced conditions and having circumvented the 50+1 rule. As recently as 2019, Bayern, Dortmund and Schalke were all knocked out in the last-16.

Referring chiefly to clubs in England's Premier League, Hoeness had spoken of his concerns about "the discrepancy between German football – and also French football with the exception of Paris Saint-Germain, and partly Italian football, too – and those countries which have billions in Arab and American money."

Watzke: 'Absolute nonsense'

Watzke, however, has dismissed his concerns as "absolute nonsense,” highlighting recent results in European competitions as evidence that member-led clubs can still compete.

"I'm vindicated not only by Eintracht Frankfurt's success in the Europa League,” he said, "but also by the fact that the Champions League was won by Real Madrid – a clear 50+1 club in which even the president is elected by the members.”

He could also have mentioned SC Freiburg's run to last season's German Cup final, where the 100% member-led club were ultimately only beaten on penalties by Red Bull-backed RB Leipzig, who themselves had been knocked out of the Europa League by Frankfurt's final opponents Rangers.

As for Real Madrid, the apparent success of their "socio" model is undermined somewhat by the acute financial difficulties experienced by Spanish rivals Barcelona, whose adherence to the same model led to chronic mismanagement and massive debt.

Back in Germany, however, Watzke reiterated his belief that "[Bundesliga clubs] do fantastic work within their means," while also pointing out that there are "lots of investor-run clubs abroad who have still not won the Champions League despite their limitless wealth" – references in particular to Qatari-owned PSG and Abu Dhabi-funded Manchester City, who have both consistently fallen short of Europe's biggest prize, often in dramatic circumstances.

The 50+1 rule: an ongoing debate

In Germany, the 50+1 rule is the subject of continuous debate. Introduced in 1998, the rule stipulates that 50% of the voting shares in the commercial company which operates a club's professional football division be held by the parent club itself – plus one share, ensuring that the club members, the fans, theoretically retain majority control.

Advocates of the rule say it safeguards the fan-friendly nature of German football, with affordable tickets, standing terraces and a vibrant, active fan culture, while protecting German clubs from the worst excesses of modern football, and the whims of external private investors who might want to use clubs for their own financial or political ends.

Critics, on the other hand, claim the rule discourages investment on a scale which would enable German clubs to better compete with Bayern Munich at home and top European clubs abroad.

Last year, the Bundeskartellamt, Germany's federal competition regulator, concluded that the 50+1 rule was "unproblematic" in terms of competition law, but criticized exemptions from the rule.

The new DFL chief executive Donata Hopfen recently caused a stir when she said that there could be "no sacred cows" when it came to ensuring that the Bundesliga remains competitive, but clarified her position recently, stating:

"German football finds itself in increasingly tough international competition in which it needs to find its own way, a way in which the 50+1 rule is not up for debate but a which also ensures that we can still compete internationally."

Bayern Munich's recent tenth consecutive Bundesliga title fired up the debate once again, despite the Bavarians adhering to the 50+1 rule. Indeed, Bayern's own statutes state that the parent club must retain at least 70% control of its outsourced limited company. It currently has a 75% stake, with the other 25% controlled by major shareholders Adidas, Allianz and Audi (8.33% each).

Current Bayern president Herbert Hainer is of the opinion that "clubs should be able to decide for themselves if they want to sell voting shares and, if so, how many."

Edited by: Michael Da Silva