The DFB-Pokal final – the highlight of the season and the culmination of a tournament which has once more brought together every footballer in Germany – professionals and amateurs, as well as attracting all kinds of celebrities, fans, and officials to watch the beautiful game in the Olympiastadion in Berlin. Former German figure skater Katarina Witt will be carrying the DFB-Pokal out onto the field before kick-off, whilst President Frank-Walter Steinmeier will award the trophy to the winners. Helene Fischer will perform a musical number in front of the audience, which is set to include Germany manager Joachim Löw and legend of the game Lothar Matthäus. Wolfgang Tobien collects 33 facts and figures for DFB.de ahead of the 33rd consecutive DFB-Pokal final in Berlin, and the 74th DFB-Pokal final overall.
The game
1. The 74th DFB-Pokal final takes place on May 27th (20:00 CEST) for the 33rd consecutive time in Berlin, and the 40th time overall in the capital. The second ever final was held in Berlin in 1936, and then took place there for six years in a row from 1938. 43 years later in 1985, the decision was made to hold the DFB-Pokal final permanently in Berlin.
2. Eintracht Frankfurt will make their seventh appearance in the DFB-Pokal final, having won it on four occasions (1974, 1975, 1981, 1988). They will play in the Olympiastadion as the guests.
3. Borussia Dortmund are the first club to reach the final four times in a row, and this is their ninth appearance overall, with three of those resulting in them lifting the trophy (1965, 19891, 2012). They will take on the role of the hosts in the Olympiastadion.
4. Champions League 2017/18 qualification: Should Borussia – who finished third in the Bundesliga and thereby qualify directly for the Champions League – win the 74th edition of the DFB-Pokal, then it would mean that sixth-place finishers Hertha BSC would qualify directly for the Europa League. SC Freiburg would then be granted the opportunity to play Europa League football next season providing that they succeed in the qualification round first. On the other hand, an Eintracht Frankfurt victory on Saturday would mean that Hertha BSC, like last year, would once more have to qualify in order to book themselves a place in the Europa League final. SC Freiburg would have to go without European football next season. It used to be the case that the runners-up of the Pokal would have a chance at qualifying for the Europa League, but that rule is no longer in effect as of 2014.
5. Referee: FIFA referee Deniz Aytekin will take charge of the DFB-Pokal final for the first time in his career. His assistants will be Christian Dietz and Eduard Beitinger, with Benjamin Brand taking on the role of fourth official.
6. Substitutes: In the event of extra-time in the final, both sides are eligible to make a fourth substitution.
7. Goal-line technology: The so called ‘Hawkeye’ will be deployed in the game, with video assistants on standby.
The DFB-Pokal final – the highlight of the season and the culmination of a tournament which has once more brought together every footballer in Germany – professionals and amateurs, as well as attracting all kinds of celebrities, fans, and officials to watch the beautiful game in the Olympiastadion in Berlin. Former German figure skater Katarina Witt will be carrying the DFB-Pokal out onto the field before kick-off, whilst President Frank-Walter Steinmeier will award the trophy to the winners. Helene Fischer will perform a musical number in front of the audience, which is set to include Germany manager Joachim Löw and legend of the game Lothar Matthäus. Wolfgang Tobien collects 33 facts and figures for DFB.de ahead of the 33rd consecutive DFB-Pokal final in Berlin, and the 74th DFB-Pokal final overall.
The game
1. The 74th DFB-Pokal final takes place on May 27th (20:00 CEST) for the 33rd consecutive time in Berlin, and the 40th time overall in the capital. The second ever final was held in Berlin in 1936, and then took place there for six years in a row from 1938. 43 years later in 1985, the decision was made to hold the DFB-Pokal final permanently in Berlin.
2. Eintracht Frankfurt will make their seventh appearance in the DFB-Pokal final, having won it on four occasions (1974, 1975, 1981, 1988). They will play in the Olympiastadion as the guests.
3. Borussia Dortmund are the first club to reach the final four times in a row, and this is their ninth appearance overall, with three of those resulting in them lifting the trophy (1965, 19891, 2012). They will take on the role of the hosts in the Olympiastadion.
4. Champions League 2017/18 qualification: Should Borussia – who finished third in the Bundesliga and thereby qualify directly for the Champions League – win the 74th edition of the DFB-Pokal, then it would mean that sixth-place finishers Hertha BSC would qualify directly for the Europa League. SC Freiburg would then be granted the opportunity to play Europa League football next season providing that they succeed in the qualification round first. On the other hand, an Eintracht Frankfurt victory on Saturday would mean that Hertha BSC, like last year, would once more have to qualify in order to book themselves a place in the Europa League final. SC Freiburg would have to go without European football next season. It used to be the case that the runners-up of the Pokal would have a chance at qualifying for the Europa League, but that rule is no longer in effect as of 2014.
5. Referee: FIFA referee Deniz Aytekin will take charge of the DFB-Pokal final for the first time in his career. His assistants will be Christian Dietz and Eduard Beitinger, with Benjamin Brand taking on the role of fourth official.
6. Substitutes: In the event of extra-time in the final, both sides are eligible to make a fourth substitution.
7. Goal-line technology: The so called ‘Hawkeye’ will be deployed in the game, with video assistants on standby.
8. The walk-out: Players of both teams will come out with the referees and mascots, led onto the field for the start of the opening ceremony by the carrier of the DFB-Pokal trophy.
9. The Pokal carrier: This year, four-time Olympic figure-skating champion Katarina Witt has the honour of carrying the trophy out onto the field. Former carriers of the Pokal as of 2010 include Eva Padberg (2010), Franziska van Almsick (2011), Magdalena Neuner (2012), Dr. Christine Theiss (2013), Maria Höfl-Riesch (2014), Britta Heidemann (2015), and Natalie Geisenberger (2016).
10. Entertainment: The opening ceremony will feature the national anthem, a large depiction of the DFB-Pokal in the centre-circle, as well as the team logos between the centre-circle and the goals. In addition, there will be mascots on the field and a choreographed performance from the fans in the stands. A half-time performance will be given by Helene Fischer. The 32-year-old has an original medley planned for the Olympiastadion, but no other musical acts will follow during the 15 minute interval. “The quality of the pitch comes first,” said DFB head of organization Michael Kirchner.
11. Victory ceremony: The trophy will be handed over to the winning team by President Frank-Walter Steinmeier alongside DFB President Reinhard Grindel, Secretary General Dr. Friedrich Curtius, and Vice-president Peter Frymuth. The victors will form a guard of honour for the runners-up, before 50 medals are given out for each side. The whole winning team will assume their positions on the pitch under the so-called ‘Winners Arc’, with the lifting of the trophy and countless photographs following thereafter.
12. The trophies: The Wanderpokal is around 52cm tall, with a weight of 5.7 kilograms and a capacity of 8 litres. It is embellished with 250g of fine-gold and gilded with silver, and decorated with 12 tourmaline crystals, 12 quartz crystals, and 18 nephrite crystals. The centre-piece is the green nephrite crystal in the form of the DFB emblem. The base leaves space for the winning club to have its name engraved. The Pokal has an estimated worth of 100,000 according to experts.
The fans
13. The fan-curve: This year’s final will see the Eintracht fans set up in the Ostkurve – where the Bayerm fans where last year. BVB and their 21,500 fans will occupy the same section of the stadium as they have in years past around the Marathon Tor. Up to ten flag-bearers per team are allowed entry into the inner-section, as well as eight trumpets and four megaphones for each fan-curve. The fans have permission to set up their choreographies between 8:00 and 16:00 CEST on the day.
14. Fan-zones: BVB fans will be gathering around Breitscheidplatz next to the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church, whilst the Frankfurt supporters are based in Alexanderplatz – these are the two official fan zones. All audience members will have to go be permitted entry electronically to enter the stadium.
Organisation
15. The people: Almost 50 DFB representatives have worked on organising the 2017 DFB-Pokal final. The team for the project has been led by Michael Kirchner overall, with Jens Busch helping co-ordinate efforts. The organisation has been helped by 34 service providers and agencies, with preparation taking a total of eight months. 5,600 people have received accreditation in the lead up to the final, including an important 400 volunteers.
16. Official dates: The meeting between the finalists took place on April 28th, as they were informed of all relevant details. The Pokal was returned on May 5th by current champions Bayern München. 220 guests were invited to an official reception on the eve of the DFB-Pokal (Friday, 26th May) which was moderated by DFB director of media Ralf Köttker.
Tickets
17. Entry tickets: 74,322 tickets were made available for the DFB-Pokal over four categories ranging from 45 Euros to 130 Euros. Each finalist received an allocation of 21,500 tickets for fans, with almost the same amount going towards the ‘neutral’ section of the stands and 8,500 tickets available in the hospitality area.
18. Ticket sales: The DFB-Pokal tickets have been sold our weeks yet again. ‘Neutral’ fans could apply for up to four tickets per person between the dates of 2nd and 16th March – there were 315,519 applications for tickets that went through the DFB alone.
19. Ticket price trends: Prices for ‘normal’ tickets have remained stable since 2011, with category one and category four tickets having their prices hiked by just five years in 2015. The 2016 tickets accounted for 40% of the DFB-Pokal final’s combined turnover of 8.79 million Euros (excluding sponsorship and media activity).
20. Security: A punctual arrival to the Olympiastadion would be recommended. Due to the fact that audience security takes number one priority, there will be stricter control procedures on the evening.
21. The second-hand market: The DFB firmly advises avoiding offers on tickets from unauthorised re-sellers. Experience shows that around 1,000 tickets are denied entry per year, meaning that the tickets sold online or outside the stadium had a falsified barcode. Given that there is no way of testing the ticket to see if it is a genuine one prior to the game, the buyer runs the risk of being denied entry on the day of the final.
Hospitality
22. VIP: 4,200 VIP packages were available for purchase in 2008, but this number has steadily risen through the years, with 5,500 available in 2014 and 8,500 for sale in 2015, with prices ranging from 300 to 1500 Euros. 3,900 VIP places are available inside the stadium and the atrium, and a further 4,600 are available outside in the Football Village.
23. Hospitality area improvements: The Football Village and its impressive city of tents takes up a space of 16,000 metres squared. VIP entry in 2014 cost between 269 and 1,250 Euros, whilst the 2016 22% price hike has meant that the hospitality packages have accounted for 60% of the combined turnover total of 8.79 million Euros (excluding TV and media activity).
Sponsoring/marketing
24. Sponsors: There are six exclusive partners of the DFB-Pokal (Bitburger, Ergo, Targo-Bank, Deutsche Post, VW and Engelbert Strauss). Insurance company ERGO have replaced Continental as the DFB-Pokal’s top partner.
25. New marketing cycle: The new marketing cycle is valid until 2018/19 and brings additional revenue thanks to an expansion in packages.
26. TV and marketing rewards for the finalists: The winner will receive 4.54 million Euros, the loser 3.26 million Euros.
Proceedings
27. Just short of 1,000 guests of honour have been invited, meaning that the hall of honour has once more maxed out its capacity. DFB president Reinhard Grindel, President Dr. Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Home Secretary Dr. Thomas de Maizière, Berlin mayor Michael Müller, Frankfurt lord mayor Peter Feldmann and Dortmund lord mayor Ullrich Sierau, as well as former Chancellor Gerhard Schröder will all be present. In addition, other VIP’s including Marius Müller-Westernhagen, Germany manager Joachim Löw, football legend Lothar Matthäus are expected to take their place there too.
TV and media
28. Television: ARD and Sky will broadcast the DFB-Pokal final, and it will be broadcast by other stations in 186 countries across the globe. 2016 viewing figures hit 13.79 million (49.2% of market share). More than 40 cameras will be in action, including the innovative Spidercam, the Polecam, and a high-speed camera that will be able to document unforgettable images. Nine international broadcasters will be in the Olympiastadion on the night.
29. Media and TV representatives: 220 journalists, 110 photographers, 400 TV and radio crew members have been granted accreditation for the game.
Miscellaneous
30. The DFB junior Pokal-final between Eintracht Braunschweig and Carl Zeiss Jena will take place next to the Olympic Village on Saturday at 11:00 CEST.
31. Merchandising and the Fan-fest will take place from 19:00 CEST on Saturday at the Olympic Park, including a blind-football tournament and school football tournament. Other forms of entertainment, catering, and drinks will be present too.
32. Fireworks: The DFB have banned fireworks for a few years for security reasons – instead, the winners will be showered in confetti. There will be no ‘beer showers’ on the pitch.
33. The German Evangelical Church Assembly: Germany’s capital will be bursting at the seams on the weekend of the final, due to the fact that 36th German Evangelical Church Assembly takes place alongside the DFB-Pokal final in Berlin from May 24th to 28th. Around 150,000 participants and visitors are expected to be present at the event on each of the days. The DFB-Pokal final fan-zones are located at Alexanderplatz and Breitscheidplatz with this in mind, given how busy the centre of Berlin will be.
