German Football -news-

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Extensive free TV coverage planned

The DFL Deutsche Fußball Liga GmbH has today (May 20) informed the clubs of the League Association about vertices of match schedules and possible marketing scenarios from the 2009/10 season.

These will be part of the tendering for the audio-visual rights packages and have been synchronised with the League Board in advance. Dispatching the tender documents will be possible as soon as the Federal Cartel Office has finished its scrutiny of the new marketing model of the DFL and its marketing partner Sirius Sport Media GmbH.

Established scenario on Saturdays and strong free-TV model for Sundays

Extensive coverage in free TV shall be guaranteed in the future as well: two strong free-TV scenarios are the foundation of the concept presented by the DFL. Interested parties can make an offer within the scope of the established utilization pattern that continues to include a prompt coverage on Saturday. Alternatively there's a second free TV scenario that includes a live match on free TV on Sunday every fortnight as well as an earlier highlights summary from 18:45 with up to four matches in first utilization.

Both scenarios additionally include a "Match of the month" on eight matchdays per season (on Saturdays, 20:30) that can be made an offer for on both free and pay TV. "With fans, clubs and sponsors in mind it was our desire to enable an attractive presence for the Bundesliga in free TV. With this we will offer two attractive scenarios that both have good chances of getting the nod", League President Dr. Reinhard Rauball says. "But nothing's decided yet. Interested companies can make their bids within the scope of the presented scenarios when the tender starts. The last decision about the acceptance of a scenario will then rest with the general meeting of the League Association."

"The fan continues to be of great importance to us. A balanced mixture of free and pay TV is the right concept for the German market. The Bundesliga will not turn into a pure pay TV event", DFL Chief Executive Officer Christian Seifert says.

Adjusting the fixtures

Both utilization scenarios are based on several changes to the fixture schedule, taking international sporting framework conditions into account. After international breaks for the national teams - eight times a season - the Bundesliga's Friday match will be moved to Saturday evening, being offered as "Match of the month". That gives international players, who partly return from international duty as recently as Thursday evening, more time to regenerate. For the same reason a third match on Sunday has been introduced. Here too an adequate competition break shall be guaranteed, with more and more UEFA Cup matches with German participation on Thursday in mind.

"Based on these international framework conditions we have developed a fixture schedule that offers better sporting conditions for our clubs on the one hand and is attractive for fans and TV demanders on the other hand", says Seifert. The DFL also break the mould when it comes to marketing, together with its partner Sirius. Dejan Jocic, spokesman of the management of Sirius SportMedia GmbH: "We are delighted to be able to market the league with an innovative concept as partners of the DFL. For the first time the tender enables all market participants, television stations and infrastructure operators to purchase the rights they deem most attractive. Sirius lowers the entry obstacles for smaller and new providers with an innovative model that builds upon the coverage of a 24/7 Bundesliga station for the pay TV utilization. This supports the current market developments and strengthens competition in the bidding procedure."

Eight top matches per season

The most significant changes in the fixture schedule include eight top matches on Saturdays (20:30) each season and a top match each round on Sundays (17:00), which can be be played at 20:30 up to eight times. The conference on Sundays from 14:45 still includes two matches, the conference on Saturdays five matches with the customary kick-off time at 15:30. For the 2. Bundesliga one match on Saturdays at 13:00 and eight top matches per season on Fridays at 20:30 are planned. The conference on Fridays will include two matches, the conference on Sundays (with four matches) will now start at 12:30.

Bundesliga - Die offizielle Webseite

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MERK HONOURED IN FINAL SEASON

Markus Merk has been named Germany's referee of the year in his final season as a Bundesliga official.

The 46-year-old took charge of his final game last Saturday and has been recognised by the refereeing panel of the German football association, the DFB, for his performances over the course of the 2007/08 season.

Merk, receiving the honour for the seventh time in a 25-year career, shared the award with Herbert Fandel, who will be Germany's representative at Euro 2008.

Merk, a qualified dentist, officiated at the 2002 World Cup in Korea/Japan and again at the 2006 tournament in his homeland.

The World Cup in 2006 was not a happy time for Merk, however, and after making a number of controversial decisions in the group stage he was overlooked by FIFA for the knockout rounds.

He was present at the European Championships in 2000 and refereed the final of Euro 2004 between hosts Portugal and Greece. He took charge of 339 Bundesliga games.

Merk won back-to-back FIFA referee of the year awards in 2004 and 2005, and received the accolade again in his final year as an international official, in 2007.

Fandel, 44, picked up the domestic award for the fourth time.

SportingLife.com

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League President Dr. Reinhard Rauball explains the fixture schedule and the utilisation scenarios, talking to German news agency "dpa".

Dr. Reinhard Rauball is President of the League Association. The 61 year old lawyer took over from Wolfgang Holzhäuser after the general meeting of the 36 professional clubs in August 2007. Additionally he won confirmed as President of Borussia Dortmund in November 2007.

Question: The fans will have to get used to a different fixture schedule from 2009/10. What prompted the league to that move?

Dr. Reinhard Rauball: On the one hand sporting reasons. For example in the introduction of a third match on Sundays, that became necessary because of the increasingly numerous UEFA Cup matches with German participation on Thursdays. Or in the decision for a "Match of the month" on Saturdays that shall guarantee additional rest after international breaks. Additionally - and it would be stupid to conceal that - marketing aspects played a role as well. TV revenues are a serious cornerstone to finance professional football. In the course of this it's difficult to please everybody. We chose this model to find the highest common denominator. We are convinced that it will be effective.

Question: The Sunday is rated as day of the family and of amateur football. Does it make sense to play three Bundesliga matches on Sundays?

Dr. Reinhard Rauball: Please allow me to point to the circumstances abroad. There are six different kick-off times in the Premier League alone, and four in Spain. The Italians have two matches on Saturday evening and on Sunday evening, too. They are very family-friendly, too, and still it became established there. Additionally UEFA Cup participants complained about too short regeneration times. That problem would have been hard to solve had we maintained the old model.

Question: Still some representatives of amateur clubs expressed a lack of understanding. is the ditch between amateur and professional football getting deeper?

Dr. Reinhard Rauball: We talked about this model in advance, with the President and the General Secretary of the DFB. The DFB are very cooperative on this point and leave the leading role to the league. We had meetings with amateur clubs. In doing so we received more approval than we had expected. Additionally only a third of all amateur matches is still being played on Sundays. Apart from that - and that's not widely known - the DFB, too, benefits from the league's media revenues with three per cent, because of the "Grundlagenvertrag" (basic contract).

Question: What do you say to the criticism at the early kick-off times in the 2. Bundesliga on Sundays (12:30)?

Dr. Reinhard Rauball: There wasn't a single critical voice when the DFL introduced the fixture schedule and the utilisation scenarios in an information meeting. The 2. Bundesliga has a few advantages from the new fixture schedule, after all. The Monday match remains untouched, there's an additional live match on Saturdays - and above all there won't be any overlapping with the top league, as is the case in other European countries.

Question: Commercial reasons played a major role in the new fixture schedule. Will this plan work out?

Dr. Reinhard Rauball: Marketing aspects played an important role, but not the only one - let's put it this way. We are convinced that the new fixture schedule and the utilisation scenarios are very attractive for interested media players. That's partly because of the new marketing model. Stations and infrastructure operators such as cable providers can now buy a fully produced programme without huge investments beforehand. Additionally companies that can't afford the whole package get the chance to apply for attractive individual packages like the Saturday evening match, for example. With this we create competition - just as the Federal Cartel Office demands. We have already received 200 expressions of interest.

Question: But you already think about additional proceeds possibilities such as commercial exploitation of the league name...

Dr. Reinhard Rauball: So far we have been extraordinarily conservative in principle in Germany. We neither have a league sponsor nor a uniform league ball. At the same time we have the lowest entrance fees of all European top leagues and the most modern stadium infrastructure. This being the case, it is my opinion that we have the most conservative system in Europe. It has nothing to do with greed for money if we carefully catch up on developments that are already common practice in other countries.

Question: How confident are you that the Federal Cartel Office will agree to the central marketing?

Dr. Reinhard Rauball: We are in a silent dialogue with the Cartel Office. 16 out of 19 countries in Europe have the central marketing. Two more think about introducing it. The European Parliament have radiated extremely positive signals two weeks ago. All that puts us in a confident mood that we get a solution that's good for our clubs.

Question: What happens if the Cartel Office decides otherwise? Is there a plan B?

Dr. Reinhard Rauball: You may be certain that League Association and DFL always have alternative considerations for all important issues, not only on the matter of marketing. Even if those never become important. But we're still absolutely convinced that we don't end up in a dead-end street and will be able to put our innovative marketing concept into practice. There are no clues for anything else.

Bundesliga - Die offizielle Webseite

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Bundesliga dominates EURO 2008

The Bundesliga is the dominating league at EURO 2008: 55 Bundesliga players were called up into the 16 final squads of 23 players each for the tournament.

The figures are based on the 2007/08 season that will end on June 30 and excludes players from lower-league clubs.

"Well ahead of the Premier League"

The Bundesliga is well ahead of the English Premier League (42 players) in second place just as it had been at the 2006 World Cup, the Spanish Primera Division is third with 41 players.

"This is a proof of quality for the Bundesliga", League President Dr. Reinhard Rauball. DFL Chief Executive Officer for Competition Holger Hieronymus adds: "These figures prove that the Bundesliga is in good odour across all borders. We are delighted about this appreciation and hope that the Bundesliga players will call attention to themselves at the EURO.�

A rise by three per cent

Another interesting fact is that Joachim Löw's colleagues increasingly bank on Bundesliga palyers, too: the percentage of Bundesliga players has risen by three per cent, compared to the 2006 World Cup.

Altogether roughly twelve per cent of all players of the 15 European national teams play in the Bundesliga. The squads of Switzerland, Croatia and Czech Republic all have a particularly high percentage of Bundesliga players with more than 25 per cent each.

Bayern in third place

Another pleasant fact: French double winners Olympique Lyonnais and Greek runners-up Panathinaikos FC (ten players each) are the two only clubs with more players at EURO 2008 than FC Bayern München with nine players - more players than FC Barcelona, Real Madrid, Arsenal FC or Chelsea FC.

And Bayern are not the only German club in the "Top ten": Werder Bremen (8 players) and Hamburger SV (6) are also among them.

The Bundesliga had already provided the most players for the 32 qualified countries with 84 players at the 2006 World Cup. The English Premier League had supplied 83 players. The Premier League had still been ahead of the Bundesliga at the 2002 World Cup.

Bundesliga - Die offizielle Webseite

[Oliver_Kahn]

Just heard on Tv that the Portuguese sports channel will start broadcasting Bundesliga matches

About time... Good to see the Bundesliga expanding even more, now I think pretty much every country in the UE have Bundesliga matches on Tv.

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Good news for you mate.

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GERMANY FRIENDLY IN DOUBT

Germany may have to cancel three friendlies, including one against England in November, due to an ongoing investigation by the Kartellamt, the country's office of fair trading.

The headquarters of the German Football Association (DFB) and German Football League (DFL) were both raided in February as part of an investigation into a possible monopoly in negotiating sponsorship and television rights.

They were accused of setting up a combined task force to seek out the best deals for themselves, allegedly to the detriment of Bundesliga clubs.

An investigation by the Kartellamt is still ongoing and, until the results are known, the DFB could choose to cancel games they have scheduled.

World Cup 2012 qualifiers would not be affected, though, since they are organised by FIFA.

However, a clash with Belgium on August 20 and a benefit game for Oliver Kahn on September 2 may have to be struck off the agenda, while England's visit to Berlin's Olympic Stadium on November 19 could also be cancelled if no decision is reached before then.

"If the case of misconduct is not concluded by mid-June, we could not guarantee that the game against Belgium or the farewell game for Oliver Kahn can go ahead as planned," explained DFB president Dr Theo Zwanziger in the Kolner Express newspaper. "We would have to call these games off."

Fears that the new television deal agreed with Leo Kirch's media company Sirius could be at the focus of the Kartellamt's investigation has already led to a delay in opening the bidding process for television rights from the 2009 season.

These were due to be put up for auction last February, but only minor and as yet unconfirmed details have emerged with no packages yet put out for tender.

And until the investigation is concluded, staging more games which involve selling television rights and sponsorship is regarded as too risky by the DFB, which is why they are keen to hear an answer from the Kartellamt as soon as possible.

SportingLife.com

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TV revenue share out for Cup

The Board of the League Association has proposed a new share-out of TV revenues for the DFB cup.

For the 2008/2009 season, according to the unanimous decision, clubs appearing in the 1st round will receive 96,875 Euro, rising to 225,000 Euro (Round 2), to 450,000 Euro (Round 3), 900,000 Euro (Round 4) and to 1,550,000 Euro in the semi-finals. .

Performance premium

In addition, the League Association Board want to award an additional performance premium to the cup winners. They are to receive 2,520,000 Euro with 1,680,000 Euro going to the losing finalists.

"We are convinced we have found a just and practicable solution that will achieve consensus in the League Association and in relation to the DFB", says League President Dr. Reinhard Rauball.

Working party solution

The agreed revenue share-out was a unanimous proposals of a working party made up of Peter Peters (FC Schalke 04), Harald Strutz (1. FSV Mainz 05), Karl- Heinz Rummenigge (FC Bayern München) with Christian Müller and Werner Möglich (DFL).

A final decision on the distribution of TV revenues from the DFB Cup will be taken at the of the DFB Presiding Council on 4 July, 2008.

Bundesliga - Die offizielle Webseite

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DFL honours 2. Bundesliga champions

The DFL Deutsche Fußball Liga GmbH will honour the champions of the 2. Bundesliga with their own trophy from the 2008/09 season onwards.

For that reason the DFL has commissioned an according trophy for the 2. Bundesliga champions to be designed and produced.

"The 2. Bundesliga surely is the best second flight worldwide. As its own brand it signifies thrilling competition with clubs full of tradition as well as newcomers, great spectators' interest and outstanding atmosphere in the stadiums", DFL Chief Executive Officer Tom Bender declares.

"The champions' trophy is the most important symbol of sporting competition in the Bundesliga. We now want to acknowledge this special achievement with a separate trophy for the 2. Bundesliga champions, too."

Bundesliga - Die offizielle Webseite

[BlackNess]

"Very surprised"

League Association President Dr. Reinhard Rauball has issued a statement on the centralised marketing of media rights for Bundesliga and 2. Bundesliga games.

Dr. Rauball was speaking in response to recent comments on the matter by Germany's Federal Cartel Office:

"We are very surprised about the comments made by the Cartel Office. It seems clear that the Office objects neither to the innovative new TV model incorporating an in-house broadcaster, nor to the participation of the marketing partner. The main thrust of the criticism appears to be toward the practice of centralised marketing, which has been common since the creation of the Bundesliga. It is the opinion of the Federal Cartel Office that the tendering process carried out in 2005 with the approval of the European Commission was not legally viable - the first time such an opinion has been expressed to the League Association. A final decision has not yet been reached, and the League will continue to pursue a solution to the matter in conjunction with the Cartel Office."

[Vargas_4]

FIFA may be forced to take whatever action they can as several Bundesliga clubs are refusing to release their star players for the upcoming Olympic Games…

The furore from Europe’s top clubs over the Beijing Olympics has become one of the controversies of the summer, as many teams are intent on keeping their squads whole for the pre-season and the start of the competitive campaign.

The most high-profile of these sagas stem from Barcelona, who were determined to prevent Ronaldinho from representing Brazil prior to his move to AC Milan. The Catalans were technically within their right to do so, given the 28-year-old’s status as an overage player, but their stance was nonetheless criticised given the player’s position at the club.

However, their initial attempts to prevent Lionel Messi joining the Argentina squad met with uproar the world over, as FIFA has demanded that all clubs release their underage stars.

"We have informed the clubs that they must release the under-23 players," FIFA spokesman Alain Leiblang said.

Now Germany has joined the party, as a number of the country’s top clubs remain hell-bent on defying world football’s governing body by blocking their players from making the trip to China.

The most notable cases involve Brazilian duo Diego and Rafinha, from Werder Bremen and Schalke respectively, who plan to go against their clubs’ wishes by flying to Singapore for pre-Olympic training in the coming days.

"I don't believe I will fly with Schalke to training camp on Monday, but on Tuesday with Brazil to the Olympics," said Rafinha, 22, in the Bild am Sonntag weekly.

The Bundesliga are backing their clubs, however, and have questioned the legitimacy of FIFA’s stance, given the Olympics technically fall outside their jurisdiction. They have also raised a number of other issues, but Sepp Blatter and co have been evasive in their response thus far.

Holger Hieronymus, the Bundesliga's acting president, said: "Unfortunately, we haven't received a usable answer from FIFA despite diverse queries."

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Goal.com - Olympics - Bundesliga On Collision Course With FIFA Over Olympics

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Matthäus: Bayern Will Walk Bundesliga

Former Bayern Munich captain and German legend Lothar Matthäus believes that the Bundesliga will be a stroll for the club this season as they look to build upon the success of last season.

Under Ottmar Hitzfeld the Bavarians strolled to their 22nd Bundesliga title last season and Matthäus believes the squad under Jürgen Klinsmann as what it takes to improve even more.

"On paper, it should be a stroll for Bayern" he told Eurosport.

Despite the fact that the club have been very quiet in the transfer market with just Tim Borowski and Hans-Jörg Butt arriving at the club this summer, Matthäus is convinced Bayern will once a gain triumph.

"All of the opponents are going to be highly motivated against Bayern. Bremen have a strong team, but I would reckon on Schalke, too, due to their transfers.

"Leverkusen have always got a strong squad, and then there are Hamburg and Wolfsburg who will be the six teams playing for places in the Champions League or UEFA Cup while you should not forget Stuttgart either.

"The Bundesliga is certainly not going to be boring" he added.

Goal.com - Bayern Munich - Matthäus: Bayern Will Walk Bundesliga