Germany’s UEFA Champions League participants – Borussia Dortmund, FC Bayern München, RB Leipzig and Bayer 04 Leverkusen – have set up a solidarity fund worth €20 million to help clubs in both the Bundesliga and 2. Bundesliga who are struggling to cope with the economic consequences of German football’s shutdown. “We have always said that we will show solidarity if clubs are indebted because of this exceptional situation,” said Hans-Joachim Watzke, Dormund’s CEO.
To establish the fund, the four clubs will forego their share of the undistributed national media revenue from the German Football League (DFL) for the 2020/21 season (approximately €12.5 million) and also allocate €7.5 million of their own resources. “This campaign underlines that solidarity in the Bundesliga and 2. Bundesliga is not lip service,” said Christian Seifert, the DFL chief executive.
Among the many clubs and players using social media to show how to keep physically fit, German international Toni Kroos is posting videos on his Instagram page demonstrating skills that people can practise safely in their house or garden.