No external investor after all: German Football League abandons billion-dollar plan after heavy criticism from fans

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The German Football League (DFL) has decided to abandon its multi-billion dollar plan to bring in an external investor as a potential strategic partner of the German Football League. DFL chairman Hans-Joachim Watzke announced this on Wednesday.

The DFL’s executive committee unanimously decided at an extraordinary meeting on Wednesday that the deal would not go ahead. “Given current developments, a successful continuation of the plan no longer seems possible. Even though there is a large majority in favor of the need for a strategic partner,” Watzke said in a press release.

The DFL, the interest group of the 36 German first and second division teams, voted in December with a narrow two-thirds majority in favor of the arrival of an external strategic partner. It was mainly a financial deal, in which the investor would provide 1.2 billion euros (1.3 billion dollars) for a period of up to twenty years. In return, the investor would receive a share of the proceeds from the media rights. The DFL had discussions with the American investment company Blackstone and CVC Capital Partners, but those companies pulled out earlier.

Fans in German stadiums have protested en masse in recent weeks against the arrival of an external lender. The league match between Borussia Dortmund and Freiburg had to be stopped after fans threw tennis balls onto the field en masse. The match between Bayer Leverkusen and Bayern Munich started with a few minutes delay due to fan actions.

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