FC Dornbirn: descent into the elite league - bankruptcy as a burden!
FC Dornbirn: descent into the elite league - bankruptcy as a burden!
Dornbirn, Österreich - On June 5, 2025, FC Dornbirn suffered a bitter setback and was officially downgraded to 16th place in the Regionalliga West. This threatens the club, which only relegated from Admiral 2nd league in 2023, now the direct descent into the Vorarlberg elite league, which is considered the fourth highest division in Austria. The fact is: All 30 season games of the club are assessed with their actual results in the table, which means that Dornbirn is the last in the final table and cannot prevent the jump into the elite league, the current situation is counted.
The Tyrolean clubs are calling for a 0: 3 penalty for all games from Dornbirn. This would have a direct impact on the final table and the allocation of the ÖFB Cup starting spaces. For example, Austria Salzburg would only have two points ahead of IMST, should this regulation occur. The final decision lies with the ÖFB License Remedy Senate, which must be on the case. Gerhard Ölz, FC Dornbirn's chairman, is outraged by the situation and plans to protest against the decision. He also sees the possibility of a course correction that could have a massive impact on future game operations, since a few weeks ago the new Arlbergliga was decided with 16 clubs from the 2026/2027 season.
financial worries and bankruptcy
The problems of FC Dornbirn are not new. In 2024, the association was refused approval for the 2nd league due to financial problems. The association was insolvent and had liabilities of 849,400 euros. A renovation procedure with self-administration was opened, but the Regionalliga West Commission decided in the ongoing bankruptcy proceedings that Dornbirn had to relegate. This decision was based on paragraph 4 of the regional league provisions, a regulation that was apparently only activated after an anonymous note, although the renovation process was already known weeks before the start of the season, as Laola1.at reports.
chaos in the Regionalliga West
The situation at FC Dornbirn is not to be viewed in isolation. The Regionalliga West faces a chaos: several clubs fight with financial difficulties. For example, the Turkspor Dortmund has already withdrawn its first team, and the 1. FC Düren is also faced with insolvency proceedings and is currently there without a team. This shows how precarious the situation in the Regionalliga West is. The players of the Düren squad were able to terminate their contracts with immediate effect in order to limit any financial damage and, if necessary, to receive bankruptcy money, reports n-tv.de.
In view of these developments, the future of FC Dornbirn and the entire Regionalliga West is uncertain. A fact that not only affects the clubs involved, but also the fans and Austrian football as a whole. It remains to be seen how the processes will develop.For more information on the background and developments related to FC Dornbirn, you can do the articles from Vol.at and laola1.at as well as the analyzes from n-tv.de
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| Ort | Dornbirn, Österreich |
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