Independent Auditors' Report

Report on the audit of the consolidated financial statements and of the group management report

Audit Opinions

We have audited the consolidated financial statements of Borussia Dortmund GmbH & Co. Kommanditgesellschaft auf Aktien, Dortmund/Germany, and its subsidiaries (the Group) which comprise the consolidated balance sheet as at 30 June 2022, the consolidated statement of profit and loss and other comprehensive income, the consolidated statement of changes in equity and the consolidated statement of cash flows for the financial year from 1 July 2021 to 30 June 2022, and the notes to the consolidated financial statements, including a summary of significant accounting policies. In addition, we have audited the group management report of Borussia Dortmund GmbH & Co. Kommanditgesellschaft auf Aktien, Dortmund/Germany, for the financial year from 1 July 2021 to 30 June 2022. In accordance with the German legal requirements, we have not audited the content of the corporate governance statement or the sustainability report referred to in the group management report.

In our opinion, on the basis of the knowledge obtained in the audit,

• the accompanying consolidated financial statements comply, in all material respects, with the IFRS as adopted by the EU and the additional requirements of German commercial law pursuant to Section 315e (1) HGB and, in compliance with these requirements, give a true and fair view of the assets, liabilities and financial position of the Group as at 30 June 2022 and of its financial performance for the financial year from 1 July 2021 to 30 June 2022, and
• the accompanying group management report as a whole provides an appropriate view of the Group’s position. In all material respects, this group management report is consistent with the consolidated financial statements, complies with German legal requirements and appropriately presents the opportunities and risks of future development. Our audit opinion on the group management report does not cover the content of the consolidated corporate governance statement and the sustainability report referred to in the group management report.

Pursuant to Section 322 (3) sentence 1 German Commercial Code (HGB), we declare that our audit has not led to any reservations relating to the legal compliance of the consolidated financial statements and of the group management report.

Basis for the Audit Opinions

We conducted our audit of the consolidated financial statements and of the group management report in accordance with Section 317 HGB and the EU Audit Regulation (No. 537/2014; referred to subsequently as “EU Audit Regulation”) and in compliance with German Generally Accepted Standards for Financial Statement Audits promulgated by the Institut der Wirtschaftsprüfer (IDW). Our responsibilities under those requirements and principles are further described in the “Auditor’s Responsibilities for the Audit of the Consolidated Financial Statements and of the Group Management Report” section of our auditor’s report. We are independent of the group entities in accordance with the requirements of European law and German commercial and professional law, and we have fulfilled our other German professional responsibilities in accordance with these requirements. In addition, in accordance with Article 10 (2) point (f) of the EU Audit Regulation, we declare that we have not provided non-audit services prohibited under Article 5 (1) of the EU Audit Regulation. We believe that the audit evidence we have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our audit opinions on the consolidated financial statements and on the group management report.

Key Audit Matters in the Audit of the Consolidated Financial Statements

Key audit matters are those matters that, in our professional judgment, were of most significance in our audit of the consolidated financial statements for the financial year from 1 July 2021 to 30 June 2022. These matters were addressed in the context of our audit of the consolidated financial statements as a whole and in forming our audit opinion thereon; we do not provide a separate audit opinion on these matters.

In the following we present the key audit matters we have determined in the course of our audit:

1. measurement of player registrations and complete recognition of liabilities from transfers,
2. existence and accuracy of transfer receivables and determination of results from these transfers, and
3. completeness and accuracy of personnel expenses of the professional squad.

Our presentation of these key audit matters has been structured as follows:

a) description (including reference to corresponding information in the consolidated financial statements)
b) auditor’s response

1. Measurement of player registrations and complete recognition of liabilities from transfers

a) In the consolidated financial statements of Borussia Dortmund GmbH & Co. Kommanditgesellschaft auf Aktien, Dortmund/Germany, (hereinafter: Borussia Dortmund), player registrations in the amount of mEUR 123.6 are reported under intangible assets and player registrations of mEUR 24.0 are reported under assets held for sale as of 30 June 2022 (27.2% and 5.3% of balance sheet total, respectively). In the past financial year, player registrations under intangible assets decreased by mEUR 68.8. Additions of mEUR 65.5 were offset by disposals of mEUR 13.9 and amortization of mEUR 87.3. In addition, player registrations of mEUR 33.1 were reclassified to assets held for sale. After this reclassification, an impairment loss of mEUR 9.1 was recognized. Trade payables include liabilities from transfers in the amount of mEUR 87.4. The determination of acquisition costs of the player registrations is based on individual and complex transfer agreements between the selling club and Borussia Dortmund as well as contracts concluded with player agents in this context.

In our view, the accounting of player registrations is of particular importance for our audit, as the individuality and complexity of the contractual clauses give rise to the risk that the valuation upon initial recognition of the respective player registration and the recognition of the associated transfer liability may not be in the correct amount. In addition, there is a fundamental risk that the subsequent measurement of the player’s registration and the associated full recognition of the transfer liability may not be appropriate, which may result from the occurrence of contingent contractual provisions or contractual adjustments.

The disclosures of the executive directors regarding intangible assets, assets held for sale and trade payables are included in the sections 1, 8 and 13 of the notes to the consolidated financial statements.

b) As part of our audit, we first obtained an understanding of the process established by the executive directors for determining player registrations and transfer liabilities and their accounting. For the additions of player registrations during the financial year, we assessed the accounting of the player registrations with regard to the determination of the acquisition costs and the associated liabilities on the basis of inspections of the material transfer and agent agreements.

As part of the subsequent measurement, we assessed whether conditions had arisen in the financial year 2021/22 for the material transfer and agent agreements that led to subsequent acquisition costs and additional liabilities from transfer transactions, and whether these were recognized in the balance sheet accordingly.

In addition, we examined the material contract adjustments or contract extensions for subsequent acquisition costs and additional liabilities and the need for useful life adjustments.

2. Existence and accuracy of transfer receivables and determination of results from these transfers

a) Transfer receivables in the amount of mEUR 86.9 are reported under trade receivables in Borussia Dortmund’s consolidated financial statements. The transfer result in the financial year 2021/22 amounts to mEUR 61.9. Gross transfer fees of mEUR 105.2 were offset by transfer expenses of mEUR 24.0 and outgoing residual carrying amounts of player registrations of mEUR 19.4.

Due to the individuality and complexity of the contractual clauses, the accounting of transfer fees from transfer transactions is demanding and there is a fundamental risk for the consolidated financial statements that, in the case of player registration disposals, the receivables from transfer transactions and the associated transfer fees are reported at too high a level or are not reported on an accrual basis and that the corresponding transfer expenses and outgoing residual carrying amounts are reported at too low a level or are incompletely derecognized. Against this background and due to the amount of the transfer receivables, transfer revenues and transfer expenses, we considered the transfer transactions carried out in the financial year to be of particular significance for our audit.

The information and explanations provided by the executive directors on the transfer receivables, transfer fees and transfer expenses are contained in sections 5 and 17 of the notes to the consolidated financial statements.

b) In performing our audit, we first obtained an understanding of the process established by the Company for accounting for and reporting transfer transactions and transfer receivables.

We recorded and analyzed the stock of transfer receivables and realized transfer fees from player transfers of the professional squad by inspecting the transfer and agent agreements concluded for this purpose. The accuracy of the transfer receivables and transfer fees recognized in the balance sheet was assessed by reviewing the determination of receivables on the basis of the contractual clauses.

We also assessed the complete and correct determination of the corresponding transfer expenses by inspecting the contracts on which the transfers are based. To this end, we also examined whether any residual carrying amounts of the player registrations for the transferred players had been fully derecognized in the intangible assets.

When inspecting the transfer contracts for player transfers, we focused on the date of realization in order to verify the correct accrual of receivables and related transfer income.

3. Completeness and accuracy of personnel expenses of the professional squad

a) In Borussia Dortmund’s consolidated financial statements, personnel expenses include the salaries of the professional squad. In addition to fixed basic salaries, these also include performance-related compensation such as points bonuses and annual performance bonuses as well as individual special and one-time payments. From our point of view, the complete and correct accounting of the personnel expenses of the professional squad was of particular importance for our audit, as the personnel expenses for the professional squad could not be recorded in full or in the correct amount due to the individually agreed compensation components and compensation amounts.

The information and explanations provided by the executive directors on personnel expenses are contained in section 20 of the notes to the consolidated financial statements.

b) As part of our audit, we obtained an understanding of the Company’s process for determining the salary payments of the professional squad and the presentation of salaries in the consolidated financial statements. Our further audit procedures included, in particular, an inspection and assessment of the currently applicable employment contracts with their remuneration components and amounts as well as individual termination agreements by performing a consistency check between the respective employment contracts and the corresponding salary calculations for license players and months deliberately selected from a risk perspective. With regard to the variable compensation components, we tested the extent to which the contractually agreed conditions for the variable compensation components had been met for these selected contracts. In addition, we examined whether events occurred that should have led to higher expenses. With regard to agreed special or one-time payments, we examined whether they were recognized under personnel expenses for the correct period, irrespective of the date of payment.

Other Information

The executive directors and the supervisory board are responsible for the other information. The other information comprises

• the report of the supervisory board,
• the non-financial Group report pursuant to sections 315b and 315c of the German Commercial Code (HGB), to which reference is made in the Group management report,
• the other parts of the sustainability report referred to in the group management report; these parts are not expected to be made available to us until after the date of the auditor’s report,
• the corporate governance statement referred to in the group management report,
• the executive directors’ confirmation regarding the annual financial statements and the management report pursuant to Section 264 (2) sentence 3 and Section 289 (1) sentence 5 HGB and regarding the consolidated financial statements and the group management report pursuant to Section 297 (2) sentence 4 and Section 315 (1) sentence 5 HGB,
• all other parts of the annual report, which is expected to be made available to us after the date of this auditor’s report,
• but not the consolidated financial statements, not the audited content of the group management report and not our auditor’s report thereon.

The supervisory board is responsible for the report of the supervisory board. The executive directors and the supervisory board are responsible for the statement according to Section 161 German Stock Corporation Act (AktG) concerning the German Corporate Governance Code, which is part of the consolidated corporate governance statement and to which reference is made in the group management report. Otherwise the executive directors are responsible for the other information.

Our audit opinions on the consolidated financial statements and on the group management report do not cover the other information, and consequently we do not express an audit opinion or any other form of assurance conclusion thereon.

In connection with our audit, our responsibility is to read the other information identified above and, in doing so, to consider whether the other information

• is materially inconsistent with the consolidated financial statements, with the group management report or our knowledge obtained in the audit, or
• otherwise appears to be materially misstated.

Responsibilities of the Executive Directors and the Supervisory Board for the Consolidated Financial Statements and the Group Management Report

The executive directors are responsible for the preparation of the consolidated financial statements that comply, in all material respects, with IFRS as adopted by the EU and the additional requirements of German commercial law pursuant to Section 315e (1) HGB, and that the consolidated financial statements, in compliance with these requirements, give a true and fair view of the assets, liabilities, financial position and financial performance of the Group. In addition, the executive directors are responsible for such internal control as they have determined necessary to enable the preparation of consolidated financial statements that are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error.

In preparing the consolidated financial statements, the executive directors are responsible for assessing the Group’s ability to continue as a going concern. They also have the responsibility for disclosing, as applicable, matters related to going concern. In addition, they are responsible for financial reporting based on the going concern basis of accounting unless there is an intention to liquidate the Group or to cease operations, or there is no realistic alternative but to do so.

Furthermore, the executive directors are responsible for the preparation of the group management report that as a whole provides an appropriate view of the Group’s position and is, in all material respects, consistent with the consolidated financial statements, complies with German legal requirements, and appropriately presents the opportunities and risks of future development. In addition, the executive directors are responsible for such arrangements and measures (systems) as they have considered necessary to enable the preparation of a group management report that is in accordance with the applicable German legal requirements, and to be able to provide sufficient appropriate evidence for the assertions in the group management report.

The supervisory board is responsible for overseeing the Group’s financial reporting process for the preparation of the consolidated financial statements and of the group management report.

Auditor’s Responsibilities for the Audit of the Consolidated Financial Statements and of the Group Management Report

Our objectives are to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the consolidated financial statements as a whole are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error, and whether the group management report as a whole provides an appropriate view of the Group’s position and, in all material respects, is consistent with the consolidated financial statements and the knowledge obtained in the audit, complies with the German legal requirements and appropriately presents the opportunities and risks of future development, as well as to issue an auditor’s report that includes our audit opinions on the consolidated financial statements and on the group management report.

Reasonable assurance is a high level of assurance, but is not a guarantee that an audit conducted in accordance with Section 317 HGB and the EU Audit Regulation and in compliance with German Generally Accepted Standards for Financial Statement Audits promulgated by the Institut der Wirtschaftsprüfer (IDW) will always detect a material misstatement. Misstatements can arise from fraud or error and are considered material if, individually or in the aggregate, they could reasonably be expected to influence the economic decisions of users taken on the basis of these consolidated financial statements and this group management report.

We exercise professional judgment and maintain professional skepticism throughout the audit. We also

• identify and assess the risks of material misstatement of the consolidated financial statements and of the group management report, whether due to fraud or error, design and perform audit procedures responsive to those risks, and obtain audit evidence that is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our audit opinions. The risk of not detecting a material misstatement resulting from fraud is higher than for one resulting from error, as fraud may involve collusion, forgery, intentional omissions, misrepresentations, or the override of internal controls.
• obtain an understanding of internal control relevant to the audit of the consolidated financial statements and of arrangements and measures relevant to the audit of the group management report in order to design audit procedures that are appropriate in the circumstances, but not for the purpose of expressing an audit opinion on the effectiveness of these systems.
• evaluate the appropriateness of accounting policies used by the executive directors and the reasonableness of estimates made by the executive directors and related disclosures.
• conclude on the appropriateness of the executive directors’ use of the going concern basis of accounting and, based on the audit evidence obtained, whether a material uncertainty exists related to events or conditions that may cast significant doubt on the Group’s ability to continue as a going concern. If we conclude that a material uncertainty exists, we are required to draw attention in the auditor’s report to the related disclosures in the consolidated financial statements and in the group management report or, if such disclosures are inadequate, to modify our respective audit opinions. Our conclusions are based on the audit evidence obtained up to the date of our auditor’s report. However, future events or conditions may cause the Group to cease to be able to continue as a going concern.
• evaluate the overall presentation, structure and content of the consolidated financial statements, including the disclosures, and whether the consolidated financial statements present the underlying transactions and events in a manner that the consolidated financial statements give a true and fair view of the assets, liabilities, financial position and financial performance of the Group in compliance with IFRS as adopted by the EU and with the additional requirements of German commercial law pursuant to Section 315e (1) HGB.
• obtain sufficient appropriate audit evidence regarding the financial information of the entities or business activities within the Group to express audit opinions on the consolidated financial statements and on the group management report. We are responsible for the direction, supervision and performance of the group audit. We remain solely responsible for our audit opinions.
• evaluate the consistency of the group management report with the consolidated financial statements, its conformity with German law, and the view of the Group’s position it provides.
• perform audit procedures on the prospective information presented by the executive directors in the group management report. On the basis of sufficient appropriate audit evidence we evaluate, in particular, the significant assumptions used by the executive directors as a basis for the prospective information, and evaluate the proper derivation of the prospective information from these assumptions. We do not express a separate audit opinion on the prospective information and on the assumptions used as a basis. There is a substantial unavoidable risk that future events will differ materially from the prospective information.

We communicate with those charged with governance regarding, among other matters, the planned scope and timing of the audit and significant audit findings, including any significant deficiencies in internal control that we identify during our audit.

We provide those charged with governance with a statement that we have complied with the relevant independence requirements, and communicate with them all relationships and other matters that may reasonably be thought to bear on our independence, and where applicable, the related safeguards.

From the matters communicated with those charged with governance, we determine those matters that were of most significance in the audit of the consolidated financial statements for the current period and are therefore the key audit matters. We describe these matters in the auditor’s report unless law or regulation precludes public disclosure about the matter.

Other legal and regulatory requirements

Report on the Audit of the Electronic Reproductions of the Consolidated Financial Statements and of the Group Management Report prepared for Publication Pursuant to Section 317 (3a) HGB

Audit Opinion

We have performed an audit In accordance with Section 317 (3a) HGB to obtain reasonable assurance whether the electronic reproductions of the consolidated financial statements and of the group management report (hereinafter referred to as “ESEF documents”) prepared for publication, contained in the provided file, which has the SHA-256 value 8C3DADDA557AD718C42010191E1FEB3E3F0071D92B899BE8DF0930CF543FA89E, meet, in all material respects, the requirements for the electronic reporting format pursuant to Section 328 (1) HGB (“ESEF format”). In accordance with the German legal requirements, this audit only covers the conversion of the information contained in the consolidated financial statements and the group management report into the ESEF format, and therefore covers neither the information contained in these electronic reproductions nor any other information contained in the file identified above.

In our opinion, the electronic reproductions of the consolidated financial statements and of the group management report prepared for publication contained in the provided file identified above meet, in all material respects, the requirements for the electronic reporting format pursuant to Section 328 (1) HGB. Beyond this audit opinion and our audit opinions on the accompanying consolidated financial statements and on the accompanying group management report for the financial year from 1 July 2021 to 30 June 2022 contained in the “Report on the Audit of the Consolidated Financial Statements and of the Group Management Report” above, we do not express any assurance opinion on the information contained within these electronic reproductions or on any other information contained in the file identified above.

Basis for the Audit Opinion

We conducted our audit of the electronic reproductions of the consolidated financial statements and of the group management report contained in the provided file identified above in accordance with Section 317 (3a) HGB and on the basis of the IDW Auditing Standard: Audit of the Electronic Reproductions of Financial Statements and Management Reports Prepared for Publication Purposes Pursuant to Section 317 (3a) HGB (IDW AuS 410 (10.2021)). Our responsibilities in this context are further described in the “Group Auditor’s Responsibilities for the Audit of the ESEF Documents” section. Our audit firm has applied the IDW Standard on Quality Management: Requirements for Quality Management in the Audit Firm (IDW QS 1).

Responsibilities of the Executive Directors and the Supervisory Board for the ESEF Documents

The executive directors of the parent are responsible for the preparation of the ESEF documents based on the electronic files of the consolidated financial statements and of the group management report according to Section 328 (1) sentence 4 no. 1 HGB and for the tagging of the consolidated financial statements according to Section 328 (1) sentence 4 no. 2 HGB.

In addition, the executive directors of the parent are responsible for such internal controls that they have considered necessary to enable the preparation of ESEF documents that are free from material intentional and unintentional non-compliance with the requirements for the electronic reporting format pursuant to Section 328 (1) HGB.

The supervisory board is responsible for overseeing the process for preparing the ESEF documents as part of the financial reporting process.

Group Auditor’s Responsibilities for the Audit of the ESEF Documents

Our objective is to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the ESEF documents are free from material intentional or unintentional non-compliance with the requirements of Section 328 (1) HGB. We exercise professional judgment and maintain professional skepticism throughout the audit. We also

• identify and assess the risks of material intentional or unintentional non-compliance with the requirements of Section 328 (1) HGB, design and perform audit procedures responsive to those risks, and obtain audit evidence that is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our audit opinion.
• obtain an understanding of internal control relevant to the audit of the ESEF documents in order to design audit procedures that are appropriate in the circumstances, but not for the purpose of expressing an assurance opinion on the effectiveness of these controls.
• evaluate the technical validity of the ESEF documents, i.e. whether the provided file containing the ESEF documents meets the requirements of the Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/815 in the version in force at the balance sheet date, on the technical specification for this electronic file.
• evaluate whether the ESEF documents enable a XHTML reproduction with content equivalent to the audited consolidated financial statements and to the audited group management report.
• evaluate whether the tagging of the ESEF documents with Inline XBRL technology (iXBRL) in accordance with the requirements of Articles 4 and 6 of the Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/815, in the version in force at the balance sheet date, enables an appropriate and complete machine-readable XBRL copy of the XHTML reproduction.

Further information pursuant to Article 10 of the EU Audit Regulation

We were elected as Group auditor by the general meeting on 2 December 2021. We were engaged by the supervisory board on 2 December 2021. We have been the Group auditor of Borussia Dortmund GmbH & Co. Kommanditgesellschaft auf Aktien, Dortmund/Germany, without interruption since the financial year 2021/22.

We declare that the audit opinions expressed in this auditor’s report are consistent with the additional report to the audit committee pursuant to Article 11 of the EU Audit Regulation (long-form audit report).

Other Matter - Use of the Auditor’s Report

Our auditor’s report must always be read together with the audited consolidated financial statements and the audited group management report as well as with the audited ESEF documents. The consolidated financial statements and the group management report converted into the ESEF format – including the versions to be published in the Federal Gazette – are merely electronic reproductions of the audited consolidated financial statements and the audited group management report and do not take their place. In particular, the ESEF report and our audit opinion contained therein are to be used solely together with the audited ESEF documents made available in electronic form.

German Public Auditor responsible for the Engagement

The German Public Auditor responsible for the engagement is René Kadlubowski.

Düsseldorf/Germany, 19 August 2022

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