Level playing fields
October 18, 2011
When Hans-Joachim Watzke talks about the need to create a more level financial playing field, he speaks as both a money man and as a fan. And he certainly doesn't mince words.
"If financial fair play is instituted now, things will become more difficult for these artificially pumped-up clubs like Manchester City and Inter Milan that lose 80 million euros a year," Watzke told Deutsche Welle. "Last year Manchester City managed to lose more money than it turned over. Very few companies or clubs manage to do that."
As of 2013, clubs will be required to work toward not spending more than they earn in profits, or can finance with their own savings. If they don't, they could be banned from European competition. By 2018, UEFA hopes it can force teams to show they are operating at a profit.
The rules are aimed at preventing super-rich investors from using clubs as baubles, skewing the competition in tradition-rich European leagues.
"Take the example of France," Watzke says. "Olympique Lyon has been doing magnificent work with youth for many years…Then in some tent in the desert, the Sheikh of Qatar or the Emir or whatever he's called decides: I'm going to buy into football in France.
"Then, because Paris has the best flight connections, he chooses Paris. He buries Paris St. Germain in money and all the good work Lyon has done for years is suddenly gone. PSG is now at the top and will harvest the fruits of all Lyon's work."
Watzke's view of owners like Qatar Investment Authority at PSG or Man City's Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nayhan may be a bit stereotypical, and his language perhaps culturally insensitive, but his complaint is one shared by lots of European football fans.
Treasurer turned boss
As a critic of the football status quo, Watzke has a lot of credibility. Himself a member of the club, he became Dortmund's treasurer in 2001 and thus had a ringside seat as one of Germany's most venerable teams drove itself to the brink of bankruptcy.
When he became chairman in 2005, things looked hopeless.
"It wasn't really possible," Watzke said. "But everyone told me: no one will blame you if it all goes down the tubes in four weeks, because the situation is actually beyond salvaging. And that's where I felt the most pressure. There were tears, and then there was this legendary event at the airport, when every last creditor had to pledge their support."
Unbelievably, Watzke managed to patch the hole in the Titanic. He got those creditors to promise to be patient, refinanced some 180 million euros ($247 million) in debt and still raised enough cash to buy back Dortmund's stadium, saving 17 million euros a year in rent.
He leveraged future marketing rights and shipped off big-ticket players. As a result, Dortmund had no choice but to focus on youth development - and ended up breeding a golden generation of youngsters who won the 2011 Bundesliga title.
The club also shed 130 million euros debt in the process. Dortmund now operate at the break-even point.
For the fans' sake
Dortmund have shown that it is possible to get the books in order and have success at the same time. And Watzke predicts a bright future for German clubs, should UEFA prove serious about enforcing the new regulations.
"The odd club that doesn't earn much money and depends on transfusions from some company will have to limit its outlays, no question," Watzke said. "But for Bayern, for example, it will be a great advantage."
It isn't every day you hear a Dortmund executive praise the Bavarian competition. But Watzke is a fellow who calls ‘em as he sees ‘em. He's even been known to say the name of rivals "Schalke" out loud - something many Dortmund fans avoid on principle.
He cautions supporters not to be blinded by the short-term success than can come from high-roller investors. In the end, Watzke warns, fans themselves are the ones who suffer when one individual is allowed to rule a club.
"Let's not kid ourselves: football is an ideal field for anyone with a narcissistic streak," Watzke told Deutsche Welle. "It's fashionable to buy a football club, instead of racehorses or whatever, but that destroys football. At first it may be exciting. Manchester City never won anything, and suddenly they are winning. At first the fans are thrilled.
"But soon enough they'll see that they are unimportant. I think German fans, but also English fans, want to feel they're a part of the whole…I think in the mid- and long-term, it will hurt the business if people no longer identify with their clubs."
Watzke says he's confident that UEFA will follow through on the initiative and enforce rules that may prove very unpopular with some very wealthy and influential individuals. That, Watzke says, is down to his faith in UEFA president Michel Platini's commitment to the reforms.
That may be the old-fashioned fan speaking and not the realist. Football is nothing if not political, and it's hard to see Sheikh Mansour or Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich giving up without a fight.
But neither will Watzke. And if Dortmund's miracle rescuer and chairman gets his way, the Champions League could look a lot different at the end of this decade than it did at the beginning.
Hans-Joachim Watzke was interviewed by Kamilla Jarzina for DW-TV's Bundesliga Kick Off.
Author: Jefferson Chase
Editor: Matt Hermann