Berlin – 2G plus applies to the press conference after the meeting. This is extremely appropriate not only with a view to the corona situation. After all, 2G could also stand for the two bosses who are leaving – plus the new one who is coming. Christian Seifert and Peter Peters say goodbye to the top of the German Football League (DFL) at the conference of the 36 professional clubs on Tuesday. The new era should shape Hans-Joachim Watzke.
The personnel changes are more drastic than ever before. After 16 years as DFL boss, Seifert is allowed to lead a meeting of club bosses for the last time in the Sheraton Hotel at Frankfurt Airport. The 52-year-old, whose future is still in the dark, will be inherited by Donata Hopfen at the beginning of the coming year. Peters is vacating his position as chairman of the supervisory board because he is aiming for president of the German Football Association (DFB).
And since no one knows exactly what to expect from the former media manager Hopfen, an old Bundesliga warrior should fill the emerging power vacuum, at least for the time being: Managing Director Watzke of Borussia Dortmund will most likely be replaced by his colleagues as Peters successor as supervisory boss and elected as the first deputy of Hopfens in the presidium.
In addition to the problems as a result of the pandemic and the critical view of the alimented competition in Europe, the last heated dispute about the 50 + 1 rule will be a central topic for the new top. As a big fan of the investor limit, Watzke must also ensure a balance between the different interests of the clubs and the requirements of the cartel office. The most recent DFL statement to the Cartel Office has by no means resolved the conflict surrounding this issue. Finally, Watzke made his point of view clear again. “50 + 1 protects German football from the worst excesses coming and that people take over the clubs here who do not care about human rights or anything else,” said the 62-year-old on Sky: “50+ protects against that 1 – and it is evident to me that it is so. ”
For Watzke it is also obvious that the elite class has lost its charisma due to the decline of traditional clubs. “It’s not good for the Bundesliga that Schalke and Hamburg aren’t there. And of course I would like both of them to rise again, “said the BVB boss:” But the integrity of the competition is important. When Fürth is on top and St. Pauli, Regensburg or Darmstadt rise – then they deserve it. “