The clubs are sending out a clear signal on the subject of sustainability. As the first big professional football leagues, the Bundesliga and Bundesliga 2 are including sustainability criteria into their licensing regulations on obligatory basis next season. In addition, the commitment to seeking to act in an economically prudent, ecological and socially sustainable manner is being incorporated in the DFL e.V. constitution.
The specific content will be finalised in the coming months and will be based on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) of the United Nations, the assessment of external experts, cooperation with the DFL working party on sustainability as well as the club working party on responsibility.
Implementation will initially start with a pilot stage in the 2022/23 season where the clubs will receive an overview of the relevant status quo as well as their potential. That will be followed by a transition period where necessary subsequent developments can be implemented. 2023/24 will see the implementation with the appropriate requirements and sanctions in the event of non-fulfilment of criteria. At the same time, the economic and structural conditions of each individual club are to be taken into account.
In addition to sustainability, further aspects of the licensing regulations have been set. That includes the parameters for the licensing procedure for the coming season. The only difference from last season is that affected clubs can again be subject to capital and/or planning quality constraints. Capital constraints will be applied according to existing financial constraints in a modified form due to the pandemic: Negative equity must not immediately be improved but it must not allow to become significantly worse.
Furthermore, annual emergency training for medical personnel in the Bundesliga and Bundesliga 2 will be obligatory in the future. The content of the courses will include for example life-saving measures in the event of cardiac arrest including the use of a defibrillator, the identification and treatment of acute head injuries such as concussion such as emergency treatment of spinal injuries.
From the 2022/23 season, the licensing regulations will also include for the first time binding provisions for club-fan dialogue. This includes forthwith the obligation that all subjects are covered that directly or indirectly affect fan groups and that the people represented in the club-fan dialogue reflect the diversity of fans at the ground. The DFL fan affairs department will produce guidelines for explanation and clarification of the dialogue regulations in the coming months.
The club is also show their commitment to the Virtual Bundesliga (VBL): The VBL should join the Bundesliga and Bundesliga 2 as an additional competition in the DFL statutes to continue to develop professionalisation and establishment of the E football competition. That was decided by the assembly on principle. In the next step, the DFL will prepare a concrete resolution to be voted on at the next Members Assembly.
Finally, Hans-Joachim Watzke, CEO at Borussia Dortmund, was elected as the chair of the supervisory board of the DFL Deutsche Fußball Liga GmbH and first deputy speaker of the DFL Deutsche Fußball Liga GmbH e.V. steering committee. He will replace Peter Peters on 11 March 2022, who has been on the supervisory board of the DFL since 2004, and took over as chair of the committee following the resignation of Reinhard Rauball in 2019.
Werkself-TV shows the highlights of Bayer 04 Women's 0-1 loss at Bayern Munich in the round of 16 of the women's DFB-Pokal 2026/27
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Rüdiger Vollborn has been at the club for 40 years, he holds the record number of Bundesliga appearances for the club (401) and is the only Bayer 04 player to have won both the UEFA Cup (1988) and the DFB Pokal (1993). And the Berliner stayed with the Werkself after ending his impressive playing career working as a goalkeeping coach for the following nine years. Vollborn now works under the Bayer Cross as a fan liaison officer and club archivist. Since February 2021, the personal Black and Red lexicon takes Werkself fans under the heading of 'Rudi recounts...' on a brief trip through the history of Bayer 04 every month…
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Having previously recorded six consecutive home wins across all competitions, Bayer 04 suffered their first home defeat of 2026/27 as they went down 4-2 to VfB Stuttgart in the Bundesliga on Matchday 8. The visitors capitalised on their first two chances to score, with Ermedin Demirovic and Jamie Leweling finding the net in the first half. Although Patrik Schick got a goal back in the first half, Bilal El Khannouss and Demirovic again added further goals for Stuttgart. Bayer 04 didn’t give up, but Ibrahim Maza’s goal proved little more than a consolation.
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Fans at the BayArena got to enjoy a spectacle on Wednesday as the Werkself came from behind to beat Nürnberg 5-2 in the DFB Pokal. Now with the sixth home game of the season, can Bayer 04 maintain their perfect record in Leverkusen as VfB Stuttgart come to town in the Bundesliga on Saturday (15:30 CET)? The visitors have had issues domestically this term, sitting in 15th place, although they have had much better results in the UEFA Champions League. Here’s all you need to know ahead of the Matchday 8 encounter…
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The Bayern Munich women’s football team are unbeaten in all domestic competitions in the last 62 matches. On Sunday (15:00 CET), the Bayer 04 women’s team will make their next attempt to end the holders unbeaten run in the DFB Pokal Round of 16 tie. For coach Roberto Pätzold, there are a number of factors that give the Werkself cause for optimism despite the high-calibre opposition.
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