Tuesday , March 19 2024

Joint statement by DFL & DFB on the situation in European Super League!

The founding of a European Super League has been met with profound shock by German football, the German FA (DFB) and the German Football League (DFL). We stand in solidarity with UEFA and its president Aleksander Ceferin. We also support the countermeasures announced by FIFA and UEFA, as well as the affected national leagues and associations. We are aware that these would have consequences on us calling up German players who are under contract at Super League clubs.

This is about the future of football – a sport of the people – and a change of course that has not been witnessed before. We cannot allow the economic interests of a few top clubs from England, Spain and Italy to lead to the abolishment of established structures. Football in Europe lives by the fact that it is theoretically possible for every club to reach a competition where they can pit themselves against the best in the continent. This dream cannot be replaced by an almost closed-off organisation. Domestic leagues are the basis for professional football and its popularity and influence throughout society, and gambling with its long established solidarity is irresponsible and unacceptable – a solidarity that has enabled those top clubs to grow over the last decades in the first place. We are united in that stance with the overwhelming majority of clubs, leagues and associations throughout Europe, while fans across the continent have also made their voices heard.

With that in mind, it was important that the UEFA executive committee unanimously approved planned reforms for European club competitions today. These reforms were an offer to the top clubs to come together under one roof that is UEFA, and in many ways came with painful compromises. That offer has been turned down out of one clear motivation. Football, no matter at which level, has always been strong when it has come together to find solutions, and the DFB and DFL will use all their means to make that happen more so than ever before. The coronavirus crisis should have made it perfectly clear by now as to what football and its values stand for: solidarity, not greed.

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