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DFL publish "Taskforce for the Future of Professional Football" results report
"For me personally, it is significant that all those involved have learned to turn their attention to other interest groups and the challenges they face. We are all united in the belief that football is a cultural asset that should be preserved and positively aligned for the future," said Dr Peter Görlich, managing director of TSG Hoffenheim, who was a member of the 37-person taskforce committee, adding: ''Looking ahead to the future, the focus is on sustainability and economic stability. The current crisis has shown us how quickly we may need to react to unexpected developments. But it's also about diversity; about participation in decision-making processes; about value systems and about integrating human rights in the entire process. The DFL and the 36 clubs of the Bundesliga and Bundesliga 2 should address the points that have been raised. We should not break off the process that has been set in motion.''
The report on the results was compiled in recent weeks under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Heidi Möller, who presented it at a virtual press conference on Wednesday. Prior to this, the executive director of the Institute of Psychology at the University of Kassel had moderated all meetings of the three working groups of the "Taskforce for the Future of Professional Football" between the beginning of October and the end of January. In three sessions per working group, 37 experts from the fields of sport, society, science, politics and business engaged in open-minded interdisciplinary discussions on important topics and questions regarding the future of professional football. The basic approach was to reflect on past developments, to discuss them and, if necessary, to design viable plans for the future. In a virtual final meeting last week, all working groups discussed and finalised the summary report.
Christian Seifert, spokesman of the DFL executive committee, made the following comments: "On behalf of both the DFL executive committee and myself, I would like to thank all the participants for their commitment. The great engagement of the task force acts as further motivation to continue working on both the idea of this unique interdisciplinary dialogue as well as the content that has been addressed so far. In this respect, we do not see the summary report of the results as the end of the exchange, but rather as the start of a continuous process of communication with key stakeholders in professional football." The TSG management team expressly endorses this view.
Prof. Dr. Heidi Möller commented: "With the founding of the taskforce, the DFL has ventured into completely new territory. A wide variety of topics were discussed in very constructive dialogues. The report summarising the results reflects a large number of the recommendations for action and the thoughts of all taskforce members and is, in my view, a truly remarkable outcome. In view of the diverse perspectives on the complex and sometimes very emotional topics, it is clear that all participants had to make compromises in order to reach a consensus. Based on the positive experience, I very much welcome the fact that the DFL wants to continue the interdisciplinary exchange in order to offer a platform for discussion on such issues in the future.''
