The Unpromotables: Germany's league champions who can't go up

What the report says

German football’s fourth tier is facing renewed debate over promotion after Lokomotive Leipzig again won the Regional League Northeast title but failed to go up. BBC Sport reports that, despite being league champions, Leipzig were beaten in a promotion play-off and remained in the fourth division, highlighting a structure in which five regional champions compete for only four promotion places into the 3. Liga.

The article says the current system gives automatic promotion to the champions of the West and Southwest regions, while one additional automatic place rotates and another is decided by play-off. That has repeatedly left an eastern champion out, including Leipzig in 2020, 2025 and this year, as well as Dynamo Berlin in 2022 and Energie Cottbus in 2023. Leipzig captain Djamal Ziane and club officials described the situation as unfair, and supporters protested with banners at the play-off match.

BBC Sport also reports that eastern clubs have revived reform efforts through a campaign called “champions must go up,” backed by more than 80 clubs across Germany. Their preferred “compass model” would reduce the number of regional leagues from five to four and redraw boundaries to create a more balanced promotion system. The proposal has attracted support from figures including Union Berlin president Dirk Zingler and Borussia Dortmund chairman Hans-Joachim Watzke, though regional disagreement has slowed progress.

The issue matters because it touches both competitive fairness and the financial gap between regions, especially between eastern and western German football. The debate also reflects wider east-west economic differences in Germany, which club figures say affect sponsorship, attendance and player development.