MUNICH (AP) — Just a day after Germany was picked to host the 2029 European Championship in women’s soccer, its top clubs have split with the national soccer federation over how to run the women's league.
In a surprise announcement, the 14 clubs in the women's Bundesliga said they would go ahead with founding an association for “ensuring the modern, professional and sustainable development of the Women’s Bundesliga and strengthening the commercial potential of professional women’s football.”
They're doing it without the federation, known as the DFB, which currently runs the league. It comes despite long-running talks that had aimed to create a joint venture between the DFB and the clubs. Last month, the DFB said it would invest around 100 million euros ($117 million) in the league over eight years.
Club officials accused the DFB of trying to go back on already agreed-on points.
“It was all the more surprising for us clubs that the cornerstones negotiated are now being called into question — even though the clubs will be investing significantly more in the Women’s Bundesliga in comparison,” Bayern Munich chief executive Jan-Christian Dreesen said in a statement.
The clubs are moving ahead without the DFB “to avoid wasting any more time,” Dreesen added.
Eintracht Frankfurt board spokesman Axel Hellmann said he was “disappointed” to find that some points they believed had been agreed with the DFB were then not included in contracts.
The clubs said they are “still open at the current time” to whether the DFB could be involved in the future.
Germany was a pioneer in developing women's soccer in Europe but recent years have seen its clubs struggle to compete with wealthy, fast-growing teams elsewhere on the continent. No German team has won the women's Champions League since 2015 as teams from France, Spain and England have dominated.
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Please purchase a Premium Subscription to continue reading.
To continue, please log in, or sign up for a new account.
We offer one free story view per month. If you register for an account, you will get two additional story views. After those three total views, we ask that you support us with a subscription.
A subscription to our digital content is so much more than just access to our valuable content. It means you’re helping to support a local community institution that has, from its very start, supported the betterment of our society. Thank you very much!
Only subscribers can view and post comments on articles.
Already a subscriber? Login Here
“A dazzling delight for all ages” Read moreRodger's & Hammerstein's Cinderella
Join us for Bay Area Youth Ballet's magical holiday tradition as The Nutcracker comes to lif… Read moreThe Nutcracker Presented By Bay Area Youth Ballet
Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup.
Error! There was an error processing your request.
Sorry, an error occurred.
Already Subscribed!
Cancel anytime
Thank you .
Your account has been registered, and you are now logged in.
Check your email for details.
Submitting this form below will send a message to your email with a link to change your password.
An email message containing instructions on how to reset your password has been sent to the email address listed on your account.
No promotional rates found.
Secure & Encrypted
Thank you.
Your gift purchase was successful! Your purchase was successful, and you are now logged in.
| Rate: | |
| Begins: | |
| Transaction ID: |
A receipt was sent to your email.
(0) comments
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who make comments.
Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
Don't threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Anyone violating these rules will be issued a warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be revoked.