Professional status gone

High above the clouds, the license lightning struck Leoben

Setback for DSV Leoben - here goalkeeper Deni Alar.(Bild: GEPA pictures)

Lightning struck Leoben on Friday lunchtime: The Bundesliga not only refused to grant the DSV a license for the top division, but also its admission to the Second Division in the first instance - effectively revoking its professional status as a soccer club!

Reason for not granting the license: The league had several complaints regarding the license, citing personnel, financial, infrastructural and legal reasons. Financial reasons were cited for the license. "The conditions that were imposed in the winter have not been met. Above all, this is an audited interim financial statement and the budget," said league CEO Christian Ebenbauer.

Christian Ebenbauer(Bild: GEPA pictures)

Some of the DSV board around chairman Mario Bichler, president Dejan Stankovic and coach Carsten Jancker heard the bad news yesterday high above the clouds - they were on their way back from Leverkusen, where they had been invited to the Europa League match with the high-flyers. However, Bichler remains calm despite the news. "As far as the license is concerned, we've made it clear that we're not going to tackle that now anyway, given the backlog we have in sporting terms. It's about issues such as the pitch heating, additional coaches with a license and outstanding documents. But we could have managed all that. Because hardly any other club in the second division is as legally and economically well positioned as we are," explains Bichler.

Which is why DSV immediately lodged a protest against the withdrawal of its admission to the second division. "The Bundesliga demanded an interim financial statement following media reports on official investigations that appeared at the end of the year, including allegations against the club - which we have since refuted, including through the public prosecutor's office. Following these reports, auditors and tax advisors left us and we had to find new people very quickly. It was clear that we wouldn't be able to get everything sorted out by the start of March," says Bichler, who believes "that the club is innocent. We have no debts, no minus. Our tax advisors and lawyers are now working hard to ensure that the league sees it that way too."