The Berlin Football Association, in the person of Vice President Finance & Marketing Thorsten Manske, responds to the letter to the editor published in the Tagesspiegel on October 16, 2025 "A piece of Berlin's soccer soul is lost: More than a newspaper disappears with the "FuWo"" and explains the reasons for the BFV's lack of support for the discontinued trade journal "Fußball-Woche":
With the end of Fußball-Woche, Berlin is losing a piece of soccer history. For over a century, the "FuWo" was more than just a trade journal - it was a weekly companion, a place of recognition, a mirror of our soccer culture. The Berlin Football Association (BFV) bows to the achievements of the editorial team, the freelancers, the editors and all those who have filled this medium with life for over a century.
The BFV understands the disappointment and the emotional reaction of many soccer fans - including the criticism expressed in the letter to the editor. The attachment to FuWo is deep and the pain at its loss is understandable. This farewell also hits us in the association hard.
As Vice President Finance & Marketing of the BFV, as a lawyer specializing in tax law and, last but not least, as someone who was committed to the preservation of the Fußball-Woche at an early stage - long before I was elected to the BFV Executive Committee - and who, together with other supporters, was accepted into the circle of shareholders in the course of the first digitization efforts, it is not easy for me to write the following lines.
FuWo was also a project close to my heart. This makes it all the more painful that we at the BFV had to come to the conclusion after carefully examining all options and economic figures: under the given circumstances and within the time available, it was not responsible for the BFV to continue the FuWo - neither economically nor with regard to the tax requirements under non-profit law. The necessary far-reaching changes would have initially required considerable funds to compensate for a structural deficit and later investments and adjustments, which the association was not allowed or even able to promise in this form at the time of the obligation to file for insolvency.
In this context in particular, it is important to differentiate between some aspects of the letter to the editor. The editorial team of FuWo itself explained in its last issue that a "toxic mixture of declining revenues, cost increases and a lack of investment funds" led to the closure of the business. These existing economic challenges were serious. Even though they are not the responsibility of the BFV, we have intensively deployed resources in recent weeks as part of the Future BFV project to carefully examine all possible options for a rescue.
We also understand the surprise of many at the sudden end of FuWo "out of nowhere". In discussions with the management of FuWo, I personally suggested openly communicating the economic situation and considering increasing the subscription price to cover costs, as well as calling for donations or support. Unfortunately, this path was not taken, with quite understandable reservations. The bottom line, however, is that the sudden end was not sudden, but gradual. The intensive work behind the scenes - in compliance with the requested confidentiality - naturally remains hidden.
The call that politicians or the association should have saved FuWo is certainly emotionally understandable, but falls short and does an injustice to those involved. The responsibility for the continued existence of a journalistic medium is multi-layered. Every newspaper bears responsibility for its economic development, its content and strategic orientation and the question of how a medium can survive in a changing media landscape. Sales figures, stagnating advertisements and the reach of digital offerings raise the question of whether the product can continue to exist in the form to which buyers are accustomed. This question is uncomfortable, but necessary for all of us - also in order to learn from the past for the future. The Berlin Football Association really didn't make it easy for itself to come to this conclusion. Therefore, we would like to briefly outline the decision-making process:
At the express request of FuWo, the association spent eight weeks working intensively and confidentially on possible rescue scenarios. In a "sprint project", various options were examined together with parts of the editorial team and individual partners as well as a club representative while maintaining confidentiality. At the end of this process, we had to admit with a heavy heart: The further digital transformation of FuWo, which was deemed necessary, would have required a considerable amount of time and money. Our analysis showed that the time required for the economically imperative further transformation of FuWo - and the associated financial resources - would have been so extensive that financing by the BFV was not possible at the time of insolvency. Due to the non-profit nature of our assets, we would have needed a viable continuation concept that complied with the articles of association, but this could not be developed in the necessary depth before the association's general meeting in November.
However, the end of Football Week does not have to be final. The association will endeavor to preserve the comprehensive archive and also examine how the "Football Week" brand can be retained, albeit probably in a new, future-proof format. However, this also requires time, resources and a viable concept. We want to go down this path together with our clubs and the soccer family.
We would like to thank the publishers, editors and editorial team for over 100 years of commitment to Berlin soccer. And we thank all the readers who have supported this medium. Now it is up to all of us to work together to find new ways to continue telling the stories that make up our soccer in the future.
Thorsten Manske
Vice President Finance & Marketing
Berlin Football Association e. V.
