Djamal Ziane has won the Regional League Northeast title three times with Lokomotive Leipzig, but the captain has yet to experience promotion to Germany’s 3. Liga. Lok Leipzig lifted the trophy for the second consecutive season and the third time in seven years, yet once again their title did not guarantee a place in the third tier.
The problem is built into the structure of German football promotion. The fourth tier is divided into five Regional Leagues covering the North, West, Southwest, Northeast and Bavaria, but only four clubs are relegated from the 3. Liga each season.
German Football Promotion Leaves One Champion Out
The current system gives automatic promotion to the champions of the West and Southwest leagues. A third automatic place rotates between the North, Northeast and Bavaria divisions on a three-year cycle, while the remaining two champions meet in a promotion play-off.
Lok Leipzig were involved in that play-off this year against Wurzburger Kickers from the Regional League Bavaria. Ziane scored, but an injury-hit Leipzig side lost 3-1 on aggregate, leaving the club in the fourth division again.
The same disappointment had already occurred in 2025 and 2020. Other eastern clubs have also experienced the problem, with Dynamo Berlin missing out in 2022 and Energie Cottbus suffering the same fate in 2023.
Ziane described the experience as extremely frustrating, saying: “It’s the worst thing – injury aside – that you can experience as a footballer.” A banner from around 2,000 travelling Lok Leipzig supporters summed up their anger during this year’s play-off with the message: “Euer System ist krank”, meaning “your system is sick”.
The Regional League Northeast has also attracted larger crowds than the other fourth-tier divisions. Its average attendance last season was 3,125, while Lok Leipzig averaged 6,352. More than 11,000 supporters attended the derby against city rivals Chemie Leipzig.
Lok Leipzig chief executive Toni Wachsmuth said clubs do not receive points for tradition, crowds or history, while acknowledging that western leagues have stronger economic foundations.
Compass Model Offers a Four-League Plan
A campaign for reform began in March 2025 under the slogan “Meister mussen aufsteigen!” or “champions must go up!” Its main proposal is to reduce the five Regional Leagues to four and redraw their geographical boundaries each season.
The proposed system, known as the compass model, would use artificial intelligence to consider factors including travel distances and attractive local derbies when determining the regional structure.
Tommy Haeder, chief executive of Chemnitzer FC and a leading figure in the campaign, said the proposal could move the debate away from the historical divide between eastern and western Germany. He also argued that a fairer promotion structure could help eastern clubs retain young players rather than seeing them move to academies elsewhere.
The campaign has received support from more than 80 clubs across Germany. Union Berlin became the first Bundesliga club to officially support the initiative, while Borussia Dortmund president and Bundesliga chairman Hans-Joachim Watzke also backed the four-league model.
Bournemouth head coach Marco Rose, who has links to Lok Leipzig as both a former player and coach, also supported the idea. He said clubs at that level need to believe their efforts and sacrifices can eventually be rewarded with promotion.
DFB Vote Could Shape German Football Promotion
A vote on the compass model in June produced an overall majority of 50.9% in favour. However, the voting process included changes announced shortly before the ballot, including a proposal for four leagues of 18 teams instead of 20 and a requirement for a majority in each of the five regional associations.
The Southwest voted for an alternative proposal, while Bavaria backed further discussions rather than supporting the compass model. Robert Lempka, chief executive of FSV Frankfurt, questioned whether an algorithm should determine clubs’ regional futures.
The dispute has since led to protests across German football. In the Regional League Northeast, matches have begun with players refusing to play for the opening minute. Lok Leipzig supporters have also thrown plastic trophies onto the pitch to symbolise the frustration of winning titles without gaining promotion.
The German Football Federation, or DFB, has now announced an extraordinary general meeting for 18 December. DFB president Bernd Neuendorf said the issue “must be resolved” and stated that the compass model received the most votes and could help concentrate elite performance and improve talent development.
Any changes would not take effect until the 2028-29 season. For Ziane, now in his 13th season with Lok Leipzig, that would come too late.
“Promotion with my hometown club would have been the most wonderful thing in the world for me,” he said. “It’s so hard to win this league and we did it twice in a row! You can’t take that for granted.”
