No more professional football will be played at the stadium on Grünwalder Straße, the home ground of 1860 Munich. © dpa / Angelika Warmuth

No license: 1860 Munich has to start over.

TSV 1860 Munich claims to have been denied a license for the 3rd division following a financial dispute with its controversial investor Hasan Ismaik.

June 03, 2026

From: dpa/dl

The traditional club has been relegated to the regional league for the second time since 2017. The Munich-based club failed to provide the necessary proof of liquidity to the German Football Association (DFB) by the 5:00 PM deadline today. "This is due to a failure to fulfill a financing commitment from our shareholder Hasan Ismaik and the companies associated with him," the still-third-division club wrote.

Reportedly, €2,7 million is missing for the license. The DFB still needs to make a final review of the case. According to the Süddeutsche Zeitung, Ismaik wrote via WhatsApp: "Sad day."

“I regret the failure of shareholder HAM International to honor its financing commitment. Until the very end, I was firmly convinced that a solution could be found in the interest of the professional football club. Unfortunately, this wish has not been fulfilled,” explained Managing Director Manfred Paula on a Black Lions Day. “We will now devote all our energy to assembling a competitive squad for the upcoming season in the Regionalliga Bayern.”

New start planned in the regional league

1860 Munich, who qualified for another season in the third division on sporting merit, are experiencing a painful déjà vu. Back in 2017, Ismaik, who has consistently railed against the 50+1 rule in an attempt to seize control of the club, refused to pay the roughly €10 million required for a third-division license after relegation from the second division. TSV 1860 subsequently had to start over in the regional league.

Max Reinthaler from Algund is under contract with 1860 Munich.

This time, Ismaik, who joined TSV 1860 Munich in 2011, again terminated loan agreements necessary for obtaining a license and submitted a list of demands to the parent club. No agreement was reached. A South Tyrolean player, Max Reinthaler from Algund, has also been under contract with 1860 for two and a half years. What will happen to the 31-year-old and his teammates now remains unclear.

"The management of TSV München von 1860 GmbH & Co. KGaA is working closely with experienced experts and consultants in the field of insolvency law," wrote the "Lions." The aim is "to maintain orderly business operations while safeguarding the rights and interests of the company and to develop a viable perspective for the future together with our sponsoring partners."