
"A lot of different interests have to be considered in this process. It was and is important to us that there is no free ride for dubious business activities," said Fernando Carro, chairman of the Bayer 04 board.
FFP proved to be vulnerable in the past because rules could be avoided. "Against that background, we as the Bundesliga must and can live with the compromise reached," added Carro. The ECA with its 240 members, including numerous Bundesliga clubs such as Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund alongside Bayer 04, has played a considerable part in the follow-up ruling to FFP. The results now have to be approved by the executive committee at UEFA.
Media reports have recently said that UEFA will decide on the updated FFP in April. It is believed clubs will only be able to spend up to 70% of their income on transfers, salaries and agents fees. But the salary cap demanded by many will not happen.
The difference between income and expenditure may be balanced out by external investors to the sum of up to €30 million per season. Up to now it has been €10 million per season. The unlimited flow of money from investors, primarily feared by German clubs, will thereby be avoided. The ECA has also decided to give €1 million to help people from the Ukraine affected by the war. This "first financial contribution" is to be used to support a range of initiatives by ECA member clubs.

Bayer 04 are away to Croatian champions Dinamo Zagreb on Matchday 5 of the league phase of the 2026/27 UEFA Europa League. The game kicks off on Thursday 26 November at 18:45 CET at the Maksimir Stadium. All the information on ticket sales.
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It wasn’t just on the pitch that there was cause for celebration around the Werkself’s 2–1 home win against SC Freiburg. Plenty of happy faces could be seen near the dugouts at half-time too. Once again, CEO Fernando Carro, alongside former striker and club ambassador Stefan Kießling, paid tribute to eight supporters’ clubs celebrating up to their 30th anniversary on behalf of Bayer 04.
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He’s done it: Patrik Schick also found the back of the net in Bayer 04’s 2–1 win over SC Freiburg on Matchday six of the 2026/27 Bundesliga season – a club record! In what was a high-quality match from the word go, the Werkself were briefly rattled by the visitors’ opener from Derry Scherhant in the 14th minute but fought back with an equaliser from Ibrahim Maza just six minutes later. In the second half, the Black and Reds took control on their home turf and secured a well-earned win through record-holder Schick. In doing do, the Werkself inflicted the first defeat of the season on the club from the Black Forest.
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It was a match that will live long in the memory of everyone involved: The Bayer 04 U19s celebrated their seventh win in seven matches in the DFB Youth League preliminary round – and yet it was a very special victory indeed: in the 4–3 (1–1) win at VfL Bochum 1848, no fewer than five goals came in the final quarter of an hour. As the 90th minute approached, coach Patrick Greveraars’s side found themselves behind, but then fought back in true ‘Laterkusen’ style.
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Under Carles Martínez, the Werkself have so far proved unbeatable at the BayArena. The Spaniard has led his team to victory in all three of their most recent home matches – and, it's worth noting, without conceding a single goal. On Sunday, 18 October (kick-off: 15:30 CEST / live on DAZN and Werkself Radio), current league leaders SC Freiburg will make the trip to Leverkusen, but will be without their top scorer. What's more, the Werkself have won all three of their previous home matches against the Black Forest club. With a goal, Patrik Schick could not only secure a fourth consecutive victory but also set a memorable record. Meanwhile, on what will be the ‘Health Day' at the BayArena, much of the focus will be on physical wellbeing. Today's matchday news.
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