Overview
- At the Berlin meeting, 1,296 eligible members voted and only 179 backed the statute change, with 50 abstentions, far short of the required three-quarter majority.
- Parts of the active fan scene had campaigned against hybrid participation with flyers stressing in-person exchange as essential to the club’s democratic culture.
- Supporters of the proposal argued digital access could broaden representation across roughly 60,000 members, compared with the roughly 1,500 who typically attend in person.
- A separate member motion sought at least to offer a members-only livestream of the assembly without speaking or voting rights, though no outcome was reported.
- After nearly two decades as meeting chair, Dirk Lentfer did not preside; Roland Kühne led the session, and the vote on the issue was taken at the start at President Fabian Drescher’s request.