Watzke and Hellmann insist new investor model isn't a "trojan horse"
At a panel discussion in Dortmund on Monday evening, DFL supervisory board member Hans-Joachim Watzke and interim DFL boss Axel Hellmann found themselves in the position of defending the new investor model the league body hopes to incorporate.
As one of the regular champions of a new limited investor model likely to be approved and implemented by the German football league body responsible for the country's top two footballing flights, Dortmund boss Hans-Joachim Watzke answered more questions about the reform at a panel discussion in his hometown on Monday evening. Watzke - who also sits on both the DFL and DFB advisory boards - was joined by interim DFL director Axel Hellmann of Eintracht Frankfurt.
The two men sought to allay fears that the new model would pose any danger to German football's sacred 50+1 fan ownership model. Hellmann and Watzke explained that German football required some additional investor funds in order to remain competitive with other European football leagues. The so-called "on-ramp" does indeed contain guardrails to help ensure that German football isn't hijacked by outside influence. The pair emphasized this again whilst speaking to an audience of 300 largely change averse and skeptical club members.
"We are talking about a 12.5 percent stake, spread over 20 years, with very limited minority rights," Hellmann stressed, "We've been very thoughtful and careful about formulating this. Every reasonable person can agree that there is a need for action. We'll have a vote on May 24th. If we don't get the two-thirds majority [from the 36 clubs in the top two flights], we move on. That's democracy and we happen to take that very seriously."
"I haven't been fighting for 20 years to preserve 50+1, only to let a Trojan horse through the back door," Watzke added, "I'm firm in my commitment and we [footballing figures] know what we owe the grassroots. [US investor] Morgan Stanely helped us get Dortmund back on its feet, but we immediately rejected their plans for a European Super League. We stood our ground there."
Hellman and Watzke faced pointed questions from members of the audience. Nicolai Mäurer, and editor of a Dortmund fan magazine, called for absolute clarity on a contract that will "carry on for 20 years and affect generations of fans". Mäurer read from a prepared statement near the end of the assembly, registering the grievance that "bad money is being thrown at bad money."
Claas Schneider - an appointed representative selected to represent the opinions of various BVB Ultra alliances - complained that the COVID Pandemic demonstrated how poorly funds were being administered by the managerial structures of most clubs. Schneider, backed by fellow spokesman Jakob Scholz, expressed concern that problems would be compounded by giving club managers more money to play with.
The fans given time to speak were often given rapturous applause after they were done speaking. Hellmann, though not Watzke, was sometimes greeted with a smattering of applause whenever he answered a direct question. When Hellmann firmly asserted that German football had no intent to try and either emulate or overtake the English Premiership's business model, he was greeted with an appreciate round of cheers.