FBL aiming to take women’s football in Germany to new level

As announced last Friday, the 14 Women’s Bundesliga clubs have officially established their own league organization during a meeting in the German city of Frankfurt.

Katharina Kiel of Eintracht Frankfurt was elected as the first president of the Frauen-Bundesliga FBL e.V. (Women’s Bundesliga Association). Veronica Sass of Bayern Munich and Florian Zeutschler will serve as vice presidents. The FBL’s stated purpose is to take the league’s marketing and professionalization to a new level, and it will reportedly be rolled out in 18 months time.

“Today marks a historic moment for German women’s football. For the first time, all top-division clubs are joining forces and pooling their interests within a league association,” Kiel said in a statement posted on Eintracht Frankfurt’s website.

“For us, this represents a provisional high point in a process that we, as clubs, began together approximately 18 months ago.”

Going it alone – without the DFB 

The founding meeting was held in a hospitality suite at Eintracht Frankfurt’s home stadium after it had been moved from its original location, the German Football Association’s (DFB) headquarters nearby. The decision to move the meeting came last week, after the 14 clubs announced that they would go it alone in their plan to establish the FBL, meant to be similar to the DFL (German Football League), which markets the men’s Bundesliga.

This was the result of a major row that emerged between the clubs and the DFB, with the clubs accusing the the football association of making “unacceptable demands” regarding a deal that would have seen the two form the league association as a joint venture. The DFB has denied this. In stark contrast to the harsh words of last week, the tone on Wednesday sounded more conciliatory.

Door remains open

“At this point in time, we cannot enter into the partnership because there are still unresolved issues between us and the DFB,” Kiel said.

“Every path has its advantages and disadvantages. The DFL also started on its own. The project with the DFB has not fallen through. We will examine it with an open mind.”

In a further possible sign of willingness to patch up the dispute, DFB President Bernd Neuendorf was present at the founding meeting, although he didn’t actively participate.

At the heart of the row appears to be a disagreement over which side should have the most say in the FBL, with the clubs arguing that they should have the final word as they are estimated to invest somewhere between €300 million ($351 million) and €900 million to move the Bundesliga forward. It is unclear what this association’s founding may mean for the DFB’s commitment to invest €100 million in the women’s game over the next eight years.

One thing the two sides do agree on is the urgent need for investment in the women’s game in Germany in order to maintain both the league’s and the national team’s competitiveness with other top football nations like England and the US.

Among the concrete proposals up for discussion are a minimum basic salary for players and minimum requirements for personnel and infrastructure.

The DFB is also hoping to use the 2029 European Championship, for which Germany secured hosting right last week, to help generate momentum for the women’s game in the country. 

Edited by: Jonathan Harding