WERNER HOPING ELF SURVIVES ESUME EXIT
Former NFL player and erstwhile European League of Football investor Bjorn Werner has hinted at unrest within the organisation even before this week’s shock resignation of commissioner Patrick Esume.
Although his reaction to Esume’s planned exit at the end of the 2025 ELF season was confined to an Instagram post, Werner — who co-presents the Football Bromance podcast with his countryman — clearly sees the potential for the fallout from his decision to extend far beyond league headquarters, with Esume being followed out the door by the rest of the ELF’s sporting division.
A shareholder at the Berlin Thunder who stepped back from the role to spend more time with his family before last season, Werner — who played defensive end for the Indianapolis Colts between 2013-15 — fears that there could be implications that ripple through the fabric of professional football, despite the recent emergence of the European Football Alliance.
“Sometimes I wish one could simply tell the whole truth,” he wrote on his social post. “But, when you’re in the public eye, you also know every bombshell you drop doesn’t just hit those who deserve it, but also many who simply invested time, money, and heart.
“Shareholders, employees, fans.
“I experienced this myself at Thunder. You swallow truths, not because they’re wrong, but because you hope that the project, the basic idea, can somehow survive.”
The current European season moves into its 11th round of action this weekend, with the championship game scheduled for 7th September in Stuttgart. The league says it will approach the appointment of a new commissioner with ‘necessary calm and due diligence’, but still has Esume’s co-founder, Zelkjo Karajica, in position as managing director, much to discomfort of the nine members of the EFA, who believe that productive talks over the future of the ELF would be more likely in his absence.