The majority of members of the Deutsche Fußball Liga e.V. (DFL) have voted in favour of further discussions while retaining the 50+1 rule. A decision was reached today (22.03.18) at the DFL's General Meeting in Frankfurt.

At the request of FC St. Pauli, 18 of the 34 clubs chose to place a vote, including 1.FC Union Berlin, who voted in favour of a "process to improve legal certainty and further consideration of changed framework conditions while retaining the 50+1 rule".

Four clubs voted against the proposal and there were nine abstentions. Three clubs present and entitled to vote did not take part in the vote, while two clubs were excused.
 
The DFL Executive Committee will discuss the next steps in the process in a timely manner and then inform the clubs and then furthermore the public.

Of the 2.Bundesliga clubs present, there was one vote against and one abstention from implementing an offline phase for video assistant officials for the coming 2018/19 season.

An official introduction from summer onwards cannot be guaranteed on the basis of the experience gained thus far from the top division and with regard to the required training quality for referees given the short time before the season's conclusion.

In the one-year offline phase, there is a process of further training around video assistants from the pool of referees from the Bundesliga, 2.Bundesliga and third division.

The 18 clubs of the 2.Bundesliga will decide through a seperate resolution whether or not to implement video referees for competitive fixtures from the 2019/20 season.