The Lions are losing the lion: Regional league football club 1860 Munich has changed its logo in a dispute with its former investor Hasan Ismaik and will apparently run in the future with an elliptical club crest without the club's animal, which the Munich side last featured on their kit in 1911. The logo contains the letters F and A, which stands for the football department (FA) of the gymnastics and sports club.

The background is a rights dispute with Ismaik, whose long-standing cooperation agreement with 1860 was unilaterally terminated by the Munich club in early June. Because the Jordanian and his TSV Munich von 1860 GmbH & Co. KGaA Limited continue to hold the rights to the previous octagonal logo with the lion above the year 1860, the club got creative. The switch to the historic crest has already been filed with the Bavarian Football Association.

The new old logo is part of a major restructuring at 1860 Munich. At the most recent members' assembly in late June, the club decided to establish its own GmbH to ensure professional football, which until now had been made possible primarily through investor money from Ismaik's company.

Previously, 1860 Munich had to cope with a forced relegation from the 3. Liga. Until early June, the club's officials had to raise a deficit of 2.7 million euros, which they failed to do by the set deadline.

In the meantime, the club was on track to enter the coming season in the Regional League not only with a changed logo but also without a kit sponsor, before a Munich fashion company was found as a sponsor. Under the campaign "Football for the People," the Lions' fans had previously attempted to serve as kit sponsor by raising sufficient donations of 250,000 euros.

With now nearly 330,000 euros, the set goal was achieved, but sponsorship apparently won't happen after all. The possibility now exists that the sum will be donated to the club.