Fourteen top-flight women’s football clubs have announced their decision to break away from the German Football Federation (DFB) and form a new joint organisation.
In November, the clubs had reached an agreement with the DFB to form the new organisation together. Mimicking the professional structure of the men’s game — within which the top two divisions are operated by the Deutsche Fussball Liga — the new entity would have operated independently, with the aim of further professionalising women’s football in Germany and capitalising on a recent spike in popularity.
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The clubs had pledged an investment of €700million and the DFB agreed to add a further €100m.
In return, the DFB would take a 50 per cent shareholding in the new organisation, with the remaining 50 per cent divided equally among the clubs. It was also announced that the first meeting would take place at DFB Campus in December, where a new president would be elected and the company would be officially founded.
On Thursday, however, citing contractual disagreements, the clubs announced in a joint statement that they would be proceeding without the DFB’s involvement.
Bayern Munich CEO Jan-Christian Dreesen, said: “In the discussions with the DFB, the key points for the establishment of a joint FBL GmbH had already been agreed upon, which made the questioning of the negotiated cornerstones at this point all the more surprising for us clubs — especially since the clubs will be investing many times more in the Women’s Bundesliga.
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“In order not to lose any more time, we have therefore unanimously decided to finalise the founding of the FBL e.V. as the association of Bundesliga clubs as early as December – without the DFB.”
Bayer Leverkusen CEO Fernando Carro also commented in a statement that: “The founding of the FBL is an important milestone for our club and for women’s football in Germany. It is very regrettable and, given the circumstances, disappointing that the founding will initially take place without the DFB.”
Disappointment was also reflected in a statement from Eintracht Frankfurt’s CEO Axel Hellmann.
“We, the 14 clubs, are disappointed that agreements already reached with the DFB are not reflected in the contract documents,” Hellmann said. “For this reason, the founding process is now taking place without the DFB’s involvement.”
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The DFB did not immediately respond to The Athletic’s request for comment.
The announcement comes a day after Germany were confirmed as the hosts for the 2029 women’s European Championship.
This article originally appeared in The Athletic.
Bayern Munich, Eintracht Frankfurt, Bayer Leverkusen, Bundesliga, Women’s Soccer
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