Bundesliga: German Football League chief urges clubs to vote for shortening of summer transfer window

Berlin: The Bundesliga looks set to follow the example of England’s Premier League by voting to shorten the transfer window, with German Football League (DFL) chief Reinhard Rauball proposing changes. Germany’s 36 professional clubs are set to hold a vote at their general assembly in December and Rauball wants the Bundesliga clubs to agree to close the transfer window before the season starts. [caption id=“attachment_4040501” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File photo of Reinhard Rauball. Reuters[/caption] Last week, the English Premier League clubs voted to shut the 2018 close-season window before the start of the 2018-19 campaign in a move that sparked approval across the European game. Now Rauball is hoping the German clubs will do the same. Currently, the season in Germany starts in mid-August and the transfer window closes on the last day of the month, which can unsettle squads with players coming and going with fixtures already underway. The Bundesliga was particularly affected in August when winger Ousmane Dembele refused to train with the Borussia Dortmund team before eventually being sold to Barcelona. “This year there was a lot of to and fro, which is no longer justifiable. There has to be a stop to this,” Rauball, president of the DFL, told magazine Sport Bild. “I will propose to the DFL’s executive committee that we vote to shorten the transfer period. “If a decision is to be taken, it must be voted on in December. “If the majority of the 36 professional agree, a corresponding application would have to be sent to the international federations (FIFA, UEFA), via the German Football Association (DFB). “Then, for example, the transfer period would be closed by 1 August.” Like their counterparts in the England, senior figures in German football want a Europe-wide, uniform date when transfer window will close. “There must be a harmony that exists within Europe,” said Bayern Munich’s chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, while head coach Carlo Ancelotti has said he wants the window closed before the season kicks off.