Just a day after Germany was chosen to host the 2029 European Women’s Football Championship, the top clubs have parted ways with the national football federation over how the women’s competition should be run.
In a surprise announcement, the 14 clubs in the Women’s Bundesliga said they would go ahead to establish an association to «ensure the modern, professional and sustainable development of the Women’s Bundesliga and strengthen the commercial potential of professional women’s football.»
They do it without the federation, known as the DFB, which currently runs the competition. It comes despite lengthy talks aimed at creating a joint venture between the DFB and the clubs. Last month, the DFB said it would invest around 100 million euros ($117 million) in the league over eight years.
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Club officials accused the DFB of trying to go back on points already agreed.
“It was all the more surprising for us clubs that the cornerstones that were negotiated are now being called into question – even though the clubs will invest significantly more in the Women’s Bundesliga in comparison,” Bayern Munich president Jan-Christian Dreesen said in a statement.
The clubs will continue without the DFB “to avoid wasting any more time,” Dreesen added.
Eintracht Frankfurt board spokesman Axel Hellmann said he was “disappointed” to discover that some points the club said had been agreed with the DFB had subsequently not been included in the contracts.
The clubs said it is “still open at this time” as to whether the DFB could be involved in the future.
Germany pioneered the development of women’s football in Europe, but in recent years its clubs have struggled to compete with wealthy, fast-growing teams elsewhere on the continent. No German team has won the Women’s Champions League since 2015, as teams from France, Spain and England dominated.
Published on December 4, 2025
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