Jena, March 19, 2026 – In the struggle over the future promotion regulations for the football regional leagues, the so-called Compass Model is moving into focus. Ahead of the trend-setting working group meeting on March 25, FC Carl Zeiss Jena is now also entering the discussion.
- Event: Final meeting of the working group on the regional league reform
- Date: Wednesday, March 25, 2026
- Basis for discussion: Compass Model as a compromise solution
- Club representative: Ralph Grillitsch (President of FC Carl Zeiss Jena)
Decision for East German Football Approaches
FC Carl Zeiss Jena is looking forward to the end of the month with anticipation. When the final meeting of the working group on the regional league reform takes place on March 25, it will be about a decisive sports-political course setting. At the center of the current talks and negotiations is the so-called Compass Model, which is being traded as a potential compromise between the various associations.
Ralph Grillitsch, President of the East Thuringian regional league club, represents the interests of FC Carl Zeiss Jena in these rounds. For the FCC, the targeted reform of the promotion rules represents a central basis for the sporting and, above all, economic planning of the coming years.
Background: The Bottleneck to the 3. Liga
The champions of the five football regional leagues in Germany (Nord, Nordost, West, Südwest, Bayern) currently do not have a uniformly guaranteed right of promotion. The Regionalliga Nordost, where FC Carl Zeiss Jena is based, must regularly compete in exhausting relegation matches against representatives of other divisions in a rotating system. The constant struggle for a direct, permanent promotion spot for the Northeast has shaped the association debates massively for years.
FC Carl Zeiss Jena, which plays its home matches in the modernized Ernst-Abbe-Sportfeld in the Jenaer Oberaue, is pushing for a fair and predictable solution, like many other traditional clubs. A direct promotion path without a relegation lottery is considered essential for the return to professional football. The Compass Model now under discussion is intended to attempt to resolve the often deadlocked fronts between the high-membership associations in the West/South and the interests of the East German clubs.
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Transparency note: This article was created automatically, editorially reviewed, and expanded with AI support.