The DFL has had a new management since Monday. The dual leadership calls for unity in football after months of rifts.
According to a media report, the new DFL managing directors Marc Lenz and Steffen Merkel called on the professional clubs to unite in a circular.
“The 36 clubs in the licensed leagues pursue individual strategies, have their own values and traditions and sometimes represent different views. Nevertheless, strengthening the cohesion of the league association is and remains the basis for a positive joint development of the Bundesliga and Bundesliga 2”, it says in the paper that the “kicker” says it has.
It says that both wanted to make their contribution “particularly through cooperation with the representatives you elected within the responsible league committees and through numerous other discussions”. There was initially no reaction from the DFL.
Duo promoted at short notice
Lenz and Merkel were promoted at short notice because the supervisory board and executive committee of the German Football League had previously received a number of rejections. You took office this Monday. The two 37-year-olds were already active in the management of the DFL. Previously, Axel Hellmann from Eintracht Frankfurt and Oliver Leki from SC Freiburg had headed the umbrella organization on an interim basis.
Hellmann had said these days about the differences within professional football: “There are currently too many conflicting interests for us to be able to develop a common strategy on how to develop the league.” After Donata Hopfen’ short term in office and the turbulent interim management of Leki and Hellmann, the DFL is trying to keep things calm.
As “strategic and content-related priorities”, as the letter states, Merkel and Lenz have the upcoming award of national media rights for the period from 2024 and “the further development of the DFL business model of central marketing” on the agenda. The planned entry of an investor failed due to the insufficient majority among the clubs.
Source: Stern
I am Pierce Boyd, a driven and ambitious professional working in the news industry. I have been writing for 24 Hours Worlds for over five years, specializing in sports section coverage. During my tenure at the publication, I have built an impressive portfolio of articles that has earned me a reputation as an experienced journalist and content creator.
