Football fairness starts in the system
🕰️ Time to wake up.

In football, we often talk about fairness — but mostly only on the pitch. What we question far too rarely are the conditions under which this sport takes place. In Austria’s amateur leagues — the very levels where committed people invest their hearts, their free time, and often their own money week after week — more and more clubs are reaching their limits. Not because the passion is missing, but because the system has become harder and harder to plan for in today’s world.

Time to rethink football
In recent years, many structures have come into view — from professional academies to amateur clubs, from social projects to international leagues. The conviction is clear: if Austrian amateur football wants to thrive long term, we have to rethink. Now more than ever, the social mission needs to be front and center: as clubs, we create connection, movement, and awareness — an offer to the community that goes far beyond sport. To keep fulfilling that mission, we need structures that are fair, sustainable, and predictable.

One possible model is one that has worked in the USA for a long time: a salary cap ensures that no club can spend more than allowed. And a draft system — the structured allocation of youth talent — creates equal opportunity, excitement, and sporting fairness. This would not solve everything. But it would bring back something we have lost: an honest, predictable, and fair competition.

From ideas to action
Of course, such ideas — especially in Austria — won’t be implemented overnight. It’s a country that likes to discuss for years before it acts, which is precisely why more people are needed who are brave enough to speak the truth and think in new ways. At some point, we must dare — including those who benefit from the current system — to ask the right questions:

• What do we want our amateur football to look like in five or ten years?

• How do we make sure that passion, fairness, and sustainability take precedence over short-term interests and parochial thinking?

• And how do we ensure that fans, children, parents, and sponsors can feel again: this is about more than results — this is about values.

“As clubs, if we want to exist in the long term, we need clear, fair framework conditions.” That’s how it was put in a recent interview with Kronen Zeitung. Fair play doesn’t start on the pitch — it starts in the system in which we all work together.

BSK 1933 as lived responsibility
At BSK 1933, this is exactly the path being taken: a clear values base, professional organizational structures, and a focus on development — athletically, personally, and socially. The goal is not to be the loudest or the richest team. The goal is to show that performance, respect, and community are stronger than any budget. One thing is certain: the future is created where people are willing to think differently.

— Patrick Reiter
CEO, BSK Polysport GmbH
Bischofshofen, October 2025