This season, the German Football League (DFL) anchored the “Virtual Bundesliga” as an additional competition in its statutes. Participation in the video game league was mandatory for all first and second division teams. Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund, who were previously missing, took part for the first time.
Only 1. FC Union Berlin still refused to set up an e-sports team and was punished by the DFL for it. “We see ourselves as a football club that promotes actual sporting activity, not its electronic simulation,” the Union spokesman told Tagesspiegel Background. “We have therefore decided not to take part in the VBL and to accept the financial sanctions provided for this.” It is likely to be an amount in the lower six-figure range.
SC Paderborn won the club competition and defeated Rasenballsport Leipzig in the final of the knockout round. This weekend the final of the “Virtual Bundesliga” will take place in single player mode.