Following the results of the extraordinary general meeting (EGM) of the DFL – Germany's Deutsche Fußball Liga – 1. FC Union Berlin president Dirk Zingler has addressed the members on the club's position. Here is the full letter:

Dear Unioner,

I take today's EGM of the DFL as an opportunity to address you in the early parts of the new season.

1. FC Union Berlin plays football for people. We regard the stadium experience at our Stadion An der Alten Försterei, in which terracing is indispensable and away supporters belong, to be the core of our existence as Union supporters. These premises have prompted us to look for a way of ensuring that we can enjoy our team's matches together – if possible in the usual way i.e. without any social distancing measures, whilst guaranteeing the highest possible safety standards.

On July 10th, we confirmed publicly that we would be aiming for full capacity at the stadium and as a result we are looking at the possibility of preventative testing measures for all attendees. We continue to work intensively on this pilot project that could be relevant in the future for other events. Naturally, this includes taking into account the pandemic's development and the requirements that follow. We will all have to prepare ourselves for the fact that Coronavirus will be part of our lives for even longer, but at the same time keeping distances from each other will be alien to life in the long run and will hardly be enforceable. We regard it as part of our social responsibility to look for appropriate solutions for dealing with the pandemic without depriving other important areas of society of necessary resources, such as testing capacities.

It goes without saying that we are moving forward in a coordinated manner given only an officially-approved hygiene plan can be applied here, and that the protection of visitors to the stadium from infection and the overall containment are very important to us.

Today, the 36 clubs of the DFL voted at a General Meeting on motions put forward by the DFL's Executive Committee, which temporarily result in self-imposed restrictions that go beyond what is considered necessary or duplicate existing regulations:

- No ticket allocations for visiting supporters
- No use of standing areas
- Deciding not to sell alcohol at the stadium
- Track & Trace through personalised tickets

All motions passed with a majority of clubs in support.

Given we disagree with the procedure in principle and consider motions on away fans, terraces and alcohol to be unbalanced in regards to our social responsibility, and also our special responsibility as football supporters, we voted against these three proposals put forward.

It's part of our understanding that as a democracy we accept the decision of the majority. That said, it is important for us that all Union fans know what the club has done to achieve a different result alongside other clubs and groups in the DFL. With this letter, we contacted the other 35 member clubs last Friday evening after consultation with the DFL's Executive Committee and campaigned for our position.

Unfortunately, we haven't succeeded in convincing a majority of member clubs to vote against the motions of the DFL's Executive Committee. We'll now look into how we will move forward with the new arrangements that were designed initially until October 31 for our team's matches.

Regardless of the outcome, we will continue in our efforts to develop a hygiene plan that does justice to our football ideals, which are not least reflected in the character of our stadium layout – and it cannot be emphasised enough: whilst guaranteeing the best possible protection against infection and without taking up resources that other people need more urgently.

But unfortunately, we will need a lot more patience before we can return to our familiar and much-loved stadium experience. On the behalf of the club's entire management team, I would like to take this opportunity to reaffirm that we will do everything in our power to help find solutions to these problems.

Eiserne Grüße,

Dirk Zingler