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One of Bayer Leverkusen’s organized supporter groups has called for their own club to relinquish its longstanding exemption from German football’s 50+1 ownership rule. Independent supporters’ association Nordkurve12 has directly challenged Bayer AG to embrace meaningful fan participation and warned that attempts to defend the club’s special ownership status through legal action could further jeopardize the future of the rule.
The remarkable intervention comes amid renewed pressure from German football’s organised supporter groups ahead of the Bundesliga’s December membership assembly. The nationwide Fanszenen Deutschlands alliance has demanded that the league eliminate existing exemptions and implement the recommendations issued by Germany’s Federal Cartel Office in August.
For Leverkusen, however, the dispute has taken on a particularly unusual dimension. Supporters of one of the Bundesliga’s two remaining beneficiaries of historic corporate ownership exemptions are openly demanding that their own club be subjected to the same rules as its competitors.
Nordkurve12 challenges Bayer AG over special ownership status
As reported by Kicker, Nordkurve12 issued a clear demand that Leverkusen’s exemption should no longer continue.
“What should apply to German football as a whole must also be the standard in Leverkusen,” the supporters’ association declared. “Should Bayer AG attempt to defend or expand its existing special status through legal action, this could further intensify the dispute over the future of the 50+1 rule.”
The supporters’ demands extend beyond merely removing the historic exemption. As BILD reports, Nordkurve12 is also calling for transparency, genuine member participation, and a common framework that would subject Leverkusen to the same ownership principles as other German professional clubs.
The association reportedly intends to discuss these demands with Leverkusen’s leadership in the coming week. The intervention is particularly significant given Bayer 04’s historic relationship with the pharmaceutical and chemical company from which it takes its name. Unlike most Bundesliga clubs, Leverkusen’s professional football operations are wholly controlled by a corporate parent.
Unlike most Bundesliga clubs, Leverkusen’s professional football company is wholly owned by Bayer AG. Although supporters have avenues for representation, including an elected supporters’ council, they do not exercise the majority voting control over the professional football operation that the 50+1 rule ordinarily reserves for a member-controlled parent club.
Federal Cartel Office ruling increases pressure on Leverkusen
The latest controversy follows the Federal Cartel Office’s August assessment of the 50+1 rule. As Get German Football News examined following the ruling, Germany’s competition authority raised no fundamental objection to the principle of member control in professional football.
However, the authority concluded that the rule’s competition-law justification depends upon its consistent and non-discriminatory application. That assessment placed four clubs under particular scrutiny, although for different reasons.
Bayer Leverkusen and VfL Wolfsburg retain historical exemptions permitting their corporate backers, Bayer AG and Volkswagen respectively, to exercise majority control over professional football operations.
RB Leipzig faces questions concerning access to ordinary voting membership, while Hannover 96 has been central to concerns over whether the voting rights of parent associations are adequately respected in Bundesliga decision-making.
The distinction matters. Leverkusen and Wolfsburg are the direct beneficiaries of formal exemptions, whereas the issues involving Leipzig and Hannover concern different aspects of how the rule operates.
The Federal Cartel Office’s August assessment did not itself revoke Leverkusen’s exemption or require an immediate ownership restructuring. It nevertheless increased pressure on the league to find a more consistent arrangement.
Nordkurve12′s latest demands effectively bring that debate into Leverkusen’s own supporter community.
Bayer Leverkusen responds to supporters’ demands
Leverkusen have acknowledged the concerns raised by their organised supporters.
“Bayer 04 takes the desire for participation and the positions of our fans seriously,” the club said in a statement reported by Kicker. “Member participation is an important concern in the further development of 50+1. We are working constructively with the Bundesliga and the other clubs on this.”
The statement signals a willingness to engage with the wider reform process but does not constitute an agreement to relinquish the club’s exemption.
Bayer AG has previously adopted a similarly cautious approach. In its August response to the Federal Cartel Office, the company stated that it would examine the authority’s assessment carefully and reserved its options for protecting the interests of the corporation and its shareholders.
Bayer AG also emphasised its desire to find a practical, sustainable solution through dialogue with the league and other stakeholders.
Leverkusen supporters join nationwide pressure ahead of December vote
Nordkurve12’s intervention forms part of a broader mobilisation across German football. The Fanszenen Deutschlands alliance has called on the Bundesliga’s member clubs to reaffirm their commitment to 50+1 before December’s membership assembly and to reject arrangements that preserve unequal treatment.
The campaign remains visible inside stadiums. Supporters routinely hold up banners demanding uniform applications of the voting rights rule. The coordinated pressure comes as the Bundesliga attempts to reconcile the Federal Cartel Office’s findings with the interests of clubs whose ownership structures may require changes.
As GGFN reported on October 6, the league has established a timetable for its next steps. The 36 Bundesliga and 2. Bundesliga clubs are expected to vote on reaffirming the ownership principle at their December membership assembly. Final proposals for a more uniform application of 50+1 are scheduled for the first half of 2027.
