The Northeast Regional Soccer League is set to kick off the new season with a protest. On the first matchday this week, a coordinated action will be carried out in response to the stalled reform of the promotion rules. “This means that in the first minute of every match, play will be halted to send a clear message—together with the fan groups—that the clubs’ interests must be addressed,” said Tommy Haeder, spokesperson for the Promotion Reform Initiative, during a panel discussion hosted by the “Freie Presse.”
Currently, plans to reform the promotion system in the near future so that all Regionalliga champions are automatically promoted have stalled. At the end of June, the five Regionalliga associations had their members vote on various reform options. Just under 51 percent of the clubs voted in favor of reducing the number of divisions from five to four using the “Kompass” model. However, the associations did not consider this vote to be clear enough.
