"Just an advertising board" – HSV fans reject RB Leipzig | OneFootball

HSV hosts RB Leipzig on Sunday evening. The fact that the match is even taking place is an annoyance for the active fan scene.

This is because the club, founded only in 2009, continues to enjoy little respect. “A lot has happened in these past 7 years: Our club has managed to get promoted back to the Bundesliga, has restructured itself both in terms of personnel and structure, and our fan scene has also undergone an intense transformation during these years. What has not changed is our clear stance towards the upcoming opponent: We still reject the RB Leipzig construct in all its facets,” said the Förderkreis Nordtribüne at the beginning of its detailed statement.

Leipzig is already playing its tenth Bundesliga season. Nevertheless, it is still “not an ordinary home game.” The Förderkreis Nordtribüne emphasizes that Red Bull continuously breaks the 50+1 rule, which is firmly anchored in German professional football. This rule is meant to protect clubs from excessive influence by investors, as the majority of votes always remains with the club.

Structural Differences Between HSV and Leipzig

However, this principle is circumvented in Leipzig. “RB Leipzig e.V. has only 23 voting members, all of whom have close business ties to the Red Bull company. For comparison: HSV has over 100,000 voting members. The ‘supporters’ of the corporate club are only offered a supporting ‘membership’ without voting rights,” explained the Förderkreis Nordtribüne, concluding that “RB Leipzig e.V. does not make independent decisions, but always stays in line with the corporation.” The entire RB Leipzig construct is therefore “undemocratic and subject solely to the control of a single corporation,” which constitutes a clear breach of the 50+1 rule.

In this context, the Förderkreis Nordtribüne also referred to the statement by the Federal Cartel Office, which, in its review of the 50+1 rule, demanded that it be enforced more consistently in Leipzig. At RB, an adjustment will only be made if it is absolutely necessary. From the perspective of the fan scene, “with Red Bull, an entire club is being abused as a mere advertising space.”

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“All German clubs, from the Bundesliga to the district leagues, were originally founded with the aim of playing sports, promoting sports, and providing people with a sporting home,” said the Förderkreis Nordtribüne, making it clear that Red Bull reverses this principle: “First the sponsor, then the club. Every single action of this construct has served only one purpose since its founding: to help the Red Bull corporation increase its revenue. The club name and logo are therefore modeled as closely as possible on the company name and logo.”

HSV Fan Scene: “We Reject RB”

As a result, Leipzig receives massive financial support from Red Bull through various channels. “This led, especially in the years before promotion to the Bundesliga, to completely distorted conditions: RB’s transfer and salary expenditures exceeded those of their respective league competitors by more than ten times, while having almost no income,” explained the Förderkreis Nordtribüne.

Above all, they criticized the significant difference in economic risk between clubs that adhere to the 50+1 rule and Leipzig, which also works very closely with RB Salzburg and faces no real risk: “Because if, despite disproportionately high investments, there is not enough revenue from sporting success, the debts are simply covered by the billionaire parent company.”

Photo: IMAGO

Accordingly, it is highly likely that there will be protests again on the Nordtribüne during Leipzig’s first visit in about six years. “Precisely because we, as fans of a professional club, move within the tension between grassroots, democratically organized popular sport and an overblown billion-euro business, it is essential to define red lines and to fight both within and outside our club to ensure that these are upheld—otherwise, we will not recognize our sport in a few years. And these red lines are being trampled on when 50+1 and club law are hollowed out beyond recognition, clubs become mere advertising objects, and fair competition is undermined by dirty tricks from billion-dollar corporations. And that is exactly why we reject RB,” said the Förderkreis in its conclusion.

In Leipzig, the extensive criticism will leave little impression. Since its founding, fan scenes from traditional clubs have expressed their rejection in various forms. Nevertheless, they will not let up in the future.

Photo: Getty Images

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇩🇪 here.