Schalke 04 has received the license for the coming season – for both leagues. And yet the news from the Königsblauen contains a catch.

FC Schalke 04 has received the license for both the Bundesliga and the 2nd Bundesliga without any conditions. This was announced by the DFL and the club on Thursday afternoon. “The DFL thus confirms that the club is fully financed for the coming season in both leagues,” the Königsblauen said.

The message satisfied Schalke’s chief financial officer Christina Rühl-Hamers. “We have completed our short-term tasks, and very successfully. Therefore, the result – which we expected – satisfies us and shows that we have a stable foundation from which we can now take the next steps,” she said.

But despite this good news, Schalke is threatened with a points deduction – and that has to do with negative equity. The 2022 consolidated financial statements show that this amount is currently around 109.8 million euros.

Depending on league affiliation, the Schalkers must either improve the amount (Bundesliga – by ten percent) or it must not deteriorate (2nd Bundesliga). This is no longer part of the licensing requirements; the DFL’s statutes lay down precise conditions and measures. If the Schalkers do not comply, they face a points deduction for the 2024/2025 season.

The effects will be a constant companion for us over the next few years in the form of negative equity. All the more intensively we are looking at solutions, one key will be to write profits year after year.

Christina Rühl-Hamers.

Rühl-Hamers takes it in stride. “Looking at equity brings home to everyone how hard the impact was triggered by the Corona pandemic and compounded by the downturn. The effects will be a constant companion for us over the next few years in the form of negative equity. We are therefore looking all the more intensively at solutions, and one key here will be to write profits year after year. We have also forecast this for fiscal 2023,” she explained.