As the years go by and the rules in football change, so too will the debate over whether the "50 + 1" rule should remain in place. Of course, the controversy came from sponsors and investors, as the fans were clear from the first moment: club control should remain with them.
The famous rule also dictates this. The majority of the shares should be owned by members and not by an investor-owner. Of course, there are exceptions like Wolfsburg and Leverkusen, but this is because they started out as associations for company employees (Volkswagen in the first case, Bayer in the second). A few months ago the Federation decided to make a fundamental change: one could take control of the club under conditions.
If one continues to fund a club for a period of 20 years, they could apply for the shares to pass. The first to hurry to take advantage of the change was Hop, to whom Hoffenheim now belongs. The second case where the rule would actually pass the biggest test was that of Martin Kidd, who asked for Hannover's shares to pass.
The club's organizers have been launching a campaign for months, involving abstinence and silence on the pitch so that it does not happen. But the German businessman, who was one of the people who supported the change in the regulation, was sure there would be no problem. The German federation, however, has shown that it does no favor to anyone. The first victory of "50 + 1" came at an unexpected moment.
"Mr Kidd has had the opportunity to appear before the federation and support his position in recent months," said the DFL statement, which rejected his application, saying it did not meet all the criteria. In fact, the biggest problem arose from funding for 20 over the years, which proved that Kid had not invested as much in the club as they seemed.
Kid hastened to disapprove of the Federation's decision immediately and to threaten legal action, which would be done immediately. The decision, however, was unanimous and shows the intention to uphold the rule that makes German football so different. The federation has rushed to seek the opinion of the Federal Court to know whether the rule can be considered unconstitutional or not.
Of course, the disagreements are not limited to the fans and the Hannover administration. Carl Heinz Rummenigge, Bayern's president, said in an interview at Kicker that investors do not pose a threat to football but can improve conditions in a club, citing Chelsea, Manchester United and Manchester City as examples.
St. Pauli asked the previous days to confirm the validity of the rule between the teams of the first and second category, as it was done. But the pressure is growing, new cases (Leipzig) are coming to disregard the rule in various ways and the war is not over…
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