Schalke 04 demands: championship title must guarantee ascent to the 3rd league!

Schalke 04 demands: championship title must guarantee ascent to the 3rd league!

In the German football landscape, the reform of the promotion regulation from the regional league into the third division is being discussed louder. In particular, the “Advice Reform 2025” initiative has fought for a prominent place in football. Frank Baumann, sports director of Schalke 04, recently confirmed that a championship title in the regional league should urgently be rewarded with a promotion to the 3rd league. "Sports success must also be rewarded accordingly," explains Baumann and thus appeals to fairness in the competition. [MDR reports that ...] (https://www.mdr.de/sport/fussball_rl/aufstiegsreform- Regionalliga-Magdurg-schalke-100.html)

Currently only four out of five regional leaves have the opportunity to get a master directly. Teams from the southwest and west teams can count on a permanent promoted one every year, while the masters of the seasons northeast, Bavaria and north, have to determine their promoters in a complicated rotation system. This inequality is referred to by many as the "most unfair rule in football". Over 30 clubs have already come together to request a reform of the existing promotion mode, as [ZDF reports] (https://www.zdfheute.de/sport/Fussball- Regionalliga-reformprojekt- Neustellung-initiative-100.html).

The initiative is growing

The response to reform efforts is enormous and attracts more and more supporters. Not only the 16 of the 18 East regional leagues have joined, but also third division clubs such as Hansa Rostock and Energie Cottbus. The discussion extends not only through the promotion regulation, but also through better marketing of the third and fourth division as well as new cuts of the regional leagues. In particular, the CEO of VfB Lübeck, Dieter Gudel, brings new ideas to avoid empty guest blocks and create more opportunities for exciting encounters.

criticism and challenges

Another example of the unbalance in ascent mode is the case of locomotive Leipzig, which failed in the relegation games for the ascent. Despite an impressive season in which the club scored 65 goals and only suffered four defeats, they stay in the fourth -class regional league. Such cases fuel the frustration of many clubs that demand fair access to the third division.

The upcoming talks in the DFB Bundestag in November are already in the starting blocks, whereby the applications must be submitted by September 7th. It remains exciting to observe how the discussion about the promotion reform will develop and whether sporting fairness can actually be put in the foreground.