Partnership between German women's league and DFB remains uncertain

Eintracht Frankfurt supervisory board spokesman Axel Hellmann said that it remains uncertain whether the new women's football league association will be in a joint venture with the German Football Federation (DFB).

"How the process will unfold and whether there will be a joint venture with the DFB or whether the clubs will go their own way is completely open at this point," Hellmann said.

The 14 women's Bundesliga clubs founded their own league organization FBL on Wednesday.

DFB president Bernd Neuendorf was present at the founding event in Frankfurt but the federation was initially not involved with the organization of the league amid a dispute with the clubs.

The clubs made a last-minute decision to set up the league without the DFB, due to "unacceptable demands" by the federation after the contract talks had been completed.

Hellmann, however, said that the door is not closed to a partnership with the DFB.

Asked whether it would be possible to continue the professionalization of women's football without the DFB, he said: "I don't think that would be desirable in any way. But obviously, we still disagree on how a joint venture should be structured."

Neither Hellmann nor FBL head Katharina Kiel provided any specific details about the project's future schedule. However, the Bundesliga is set to be reorganized as early as the 2026-27 season.

While the men's Bundesliga has long been organized by the German Football League, the women's league was still administered by the DFB.

The DFB plans to invest €100 million over the next eight years, while the clubs aim to invest between €300 million ($351.1 million) and €700 million in the same period.

"We, the clubs, bear the entrepreneurial risk. We employ the players. We train the players. We create the infrastructure and everything that goes with it," Hellmann stressed.

"Because we are the ones who deal with the day-to-day business of professional women's football, it's reasonable that we should ultimately have the final say on how it develops."

Hellmann also sits on the DFL executive committee.