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Schalke players after the defeat in Berlin last weekend

Photo: Michael Taeger / Jan Huebner / IMAGO

Second division soccer team Schalke 04 was in the black for the first time in five years in the year of relegation.

The Royal Blues, who were once again threatened with relegation, closed the 2023 financial year with sales of 168 million euros and an increase of 6.9 million euros.

The traditional club, which is still heavily indebted, thus reduced its negative equity by six to 103.3 million euros and thus fulfilled a condition of the German Football League (DFL).

“We are very pleased that we were able to achieve our economic goals as planned under difficult conditions,” said CFO Christina Rühl-Hamers when presenting the annual report on Monday.

Another year of the second division was fully financed, she emphasized after submitting the license documents last Friday.

»Able to act on the transfer market«

There is a licensed player budget “almost at the level of the previous season”, an estimated 25 million euros.

You are “already able to act on the transfer market.”

In order to avoid a point deduction, the negative equity must be reduced by five percent.

“To do this, we have to make another profit,” said Rühl-Hamers.

The horror scenario of relegation is causing great concern.

“As far as the third league plans are concerned, we expect that the provisional license will only be granted under certain conditions,” said Rühl-Hamers.

She didn't want to talk about the numbers in the documents for the 3rd league that were also submitted, saying that would be dubious given the many variables.

If the license is refused by the German Football Association (DFB), Schalke would have to continue playing in the regional league - the second team is currently registered there.

Schalke are currently only two points ahead of the relegation places.

In the current year, the club has to expect reduced TV income due to the poor ranking; the arena, with four European Championship games and several top-class concerts (Taylor Swift, AC/DC and Rammstein), is expected to provide the necessary plus.

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