BERLIN: Berlin’s top six sports clubs will work together to push for improved conditions for professional teams in the German capital, they said yesterday.
The new “Initiative for professional Berlin clubs” aims to increase the exposure of the six as brands that contribute to the capital’s image and its marketing campaigns as well as boost their reach within Berlin’s political and financial institutions.
Second division soccer clubs Hertha and Union Berlin, top basketball club Alba Berlin, ice hockey champions Eisbaeren Berlin, handball’s Fuechse Berlin and Berlin Recycling (BR) Volleys make up the group.
While the basketball, handball, ice hockey and volleyball clubs have been successful in recent years, soccer in Berlin is a thorny issue with the German city the only major European capital lacking a top-flight team.
Hertha Berlin were last German champions in 1931.
“Various studies have confirmed Berlin is the German capital for sport. The six big professional clubs are a key and year-round force for this,” the clubs said in a joint statement.
“There is however not the same amount of media or public recognition for this performance. Also the economic and social importance of these clubs has not been anchored in the city’s political and financial landscape.” “With this initiative we will have a direct dialogue with the city’s political, financial and social institutions,” said BR Volleys chairman Kaweh Niroomand. “We are convinced we can do a lot for sport with this initiative.”
