The soccer presidents of all regional associations have agreed to form a working group with regard to the problematic promotion regulations from the regional leagues to the 3rd division. "I am delighted that we have reached a consensus with all regional association presidents on our goal of forming a working group on the subject of promotion reform," said Hermann Winkler, President of the Saxon (SFV) and North-East German Football Association (NOFV), to the German Press Agency.
According to Winkler, it was particularly important for this committee to begin its work before the Bundestag on November 6. That way, the first results of the discussions would already be available in November. The reform was recently discussed at all regional league meetings. The NOFV recently called for a working group of all clubs plus the DFB and DFL anyway. The presidents of the regional and state associations have now reached an agreement.
Five leagues, but only four promoted
Currently, only the champions of the West and South-West regional leagues are promoted directly. The winners of the North, Bayern and Nordost leagues alternate on a rotational basis with a direct promotion. The two remaining champions determine the fourth promoted team to the 3rd division in a first and second leg. One champion is left empty-handed.
More than 40 clubs have now supported the "Promotion Reform 2025" initiative. And they are no longer just from the east, which really got the ball rolling with its numerous traditional clubs in the regional league.
Even a Bundesliga club, 1. FC Union Berlin, is involved: "The current structure disadvantages champions whose sporting performance is not automatically rewarded with promotion. This contradicts our understanding of sporting competition," explained Union president Dirk Zingler. The unanimous opinion of the initiative is that champions should be promoted directly. A reform model is to be developed by next year. If this were then adopted in 2026, the regional league could be played in a new structure from the 2027/28 season.
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