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RB Leipzig sporting director Ralf Rangnick has said he believes German football's 50+1 ownership model is outdated. The rule stipulates that more than 50 percent of a club must be owned by its members, but there are exceptions for company-owned clubs such as Bayer Leverkusen and Wolfsburg while others, like Hamburg and Hoffenheim, have been bankrolled by wealthy individuals. There has been controversy over second-placed RB Leipzig -- founded in 2009 when Austrian energy drink giant Red Bull rebranded fifth-tier side SSV Markranstadt -- because they prevent non-Red Bull employees from becoming members with voting rights. Officially there are 17 people with voting rights, but all are attached to the Red Bull company. Speaking at a media event in Leipzig, Ragnick said: "The number of members of the club is obsolete and irrelevant. "For me, that concept is old-fashioned. Borussia Dortmund has 150,000 members but, for the strategic decisions the club makes, they have no influence. "Do you think Porsche, Mercedes or DHL would ask their stakeholders what they should do next ahead of every decision they make? "The same holds true in football -- it's about the right people on the board making the right decisions for the club." Last month, the head of global soccer at Red Bull, Oliver Mintzlaff, urged the Bundesliga to scrap the rule, arguing it would ensure the league remained "competitive." And at the weekend, Bayern Munich president Uli Hoeness said he was in favour of scrapping the rule "not because we would change anything by doing so, but it will finally put an end to this discussion." Other clubs, such as Dortmund, hope to keep the rule, which CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke argues "the 50+1 rule does significantly more good than harm."
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