Promotion summit for the 3rd division: Two proposals for discussion

The North East German Football Association (NOFV) wants to present a new regulation for promotion to the 3rd soccer league with its regional and top league clubs by the upcoming DFB Bundesestag. "We have two model proposals that we would like to discuss with representatives of the DFB and other regional associations in order to bring about fairer promotion regulations," said NOFV president Hermann Winkler after the so-called promotion summit of the association and numerous teams in Berlin.

From the five regional leagues, only the champions from the west and south-west have been promoted directly since the 2018/2019 season. One of the champions of the North, North-East and Bavarian divisions is promoted directly to the third division every year, while the other two play two relegation matches for the last available place, meaning that one division winner remains in the fourth division.

Core message: Ready for compromise

"We are prepared to move our national borders to bring about change. That is our core message: we are ready for compromise," said Tommy Haeder, spokesperson for the Eastern Initiative Group. The office manager, ticket manager and authorized signatory of Chemnitzer FC announced that talks with the other associations would begin as early as next week. At the same time, Haeder emphasized that the NOFV covers six federal states and is also by far the regional league association with the highest number of spectators.

In order to reform the existing regulations, a working group consisting of club representatives from Greifswalder FC, Hallescher FC, FC Carl-Zeiss Jena, FSV Zwickau, Chemnitzer FC, Rot-Weiß Erfurt and Energie Cottbus was formed. A proposal must be drawn up by September 7, which can then be voted on at the upcoming German Football Association (DFB) Bundestag on November 7.