RB Leipzig Managing Director Johann Plenge, who has been with the club since it was in the fifth tier of German soccer, has opened up about the possibility of Bundesliga clubs playing league games abroad in a revealing new interview.
Ask any fan of a Bundesliga club which league is most likely to play league games abroad, and the guaranteed answer is either La Liga, Premier League, or both. Mention the Bundesliga in that same conversation, and you’ll get an avalanche of reasons why the German league will never play overseas.
So, when the 39-year-old RB Leipzig executive addressed the topic last week, Plenge told World Soccer Talk, “I don’t see it [happening] in the near future, no.”
However, he didn’t rule it out from happening in the long term.
He said, “Never say no to anything. In the end, this is important, football has to develop its product the way the fans would like to have it. The fan is in the center of everything, and if the majority of the fans would like to adopt a format, or talk about where cup finals should take place, these are discussions you would have to be open for.”
Bundesliga playing overseas? More work needs to be done first
Plenge prefaced the surprise comment by mentioning all of the steps that need to happen before the possibility of playing games overseas.
“For us in Germany, [having games played overseas] is not a discussion we need to have at the moment. We have to have easier discussions such as how we can improve our product, strengthen the relationship with foreign broadcasters, etc. I think this is three, four, or five steps too far [ahead], but we should focus on the next immediate steps first. [For example], the tender of the Bundesliga is currently running.
“So we have to do our homework first there before we can talk about having Bundesliga matches somewhere out of Germany or even out of Europe.”
Plenge’s frank comments received some pushback from reporters.
Plenge…
Source link : https://worldsoccertalk.com/news/bundesliga-playing-overseas/
Author : Christopher Harris
Publish date : 2024-10-29 23:19:03
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