German Bundesliga rejects playing game abroad

GERMAN football has ruled out following Spain in playing a top-flight league match or any other competitive game abroad.

While La Liga plans to hold a game in the United States in a bid to improve its global popularity, the Bundesliga will be rooted in Germany, its league chief said yesterday.

“We will never play a competitive game outside Germany. It’s a line we will not cross,” German Football League (DFL) president Christian Seifert said in Frankfurt.

The DFL also made it clear via Twitter that neither the German Cup – run by the German Football Federation (DFB) – nor the Super Cup would ever be played abroad.

Spain’s announcement last month has followed a similar idea considered but later rejected by England’s Premier League following fierce fan opposition several years ago.

The Bundesliga and its leading clubs have been making efforts to increase German foot- ball’s popularity and marketing potential in the United States and Asia. But Seifert said playing an official league game in the United States which could eventually decide promotion, relegation or participation in European competition shows “a lack of respect for your own fans, the players and, in the end, Major League Soccer.”

The Bundesliga also has no plans to spread its weekend fixtures any further, Seifert said. The German league already has seven different potential kickoff times over four days, including five Monday evening matches which are unpopular with fans.

Seifert also referred to fixtures in La Liga, which has a multitude of kickoff times on a typical four-day league programme.

“You can rule out that there are as many kickoff times (in Germany) as there are games, as is the case in Spain,” he said.

The DFL meanwhile believes it is well-placed to profit from digital media developments.

“The Bundesliga is in a very good position from its own television production to the largest digital football archive in the world right up to its own data company. This puts us in a good starting position,” Seifert said.

Initial talks have also begun with media companies and the Federal Cartel Office on the next broadcasting rights deals for the 2021-2025 period. It will be important to consider “the needs of the consumers of tomorrow,” Seifert said.

“It is completely naive to believe that in 10 or 15 years today’s 10 or 12-year-old girls or boys will be sitting in front of a TV screen for 90 minutes watching a nerve-wracking 0-0,” he added. – dpa