league signed an agreement to host the China national under-20 football team, allowing the team to compete in the league in friendly matches to fill in as the league's 20th club. The arrangement was only approved by 16 of the 19 clubs in the league, with those in opposition criticising it as part of the increasing commercialisation of football. During the team's match against TSV Schott Mainz, the display of a Tibetan flag led to the team walking off in protest. Consequently, the Chinese players were recalled and the agreement was abrogated. Founding Members 2012/13 SG Sonnenhof Großaspach, Eintracht Frankfurt II, Eintracht Trier, Wormatia Worms, TSG 1899 Hoffenheim II, 1. FC Kaiserslautern II, SC Freiburg II, 1. FSV Mainz 05 II, KSV Hessen Kassel, SV Elversberg, SV Waldhof Mannheim, SC 07 Idar-Oberstein, SC Pfullendorf, TuS Koblenz, FSV Frankfurt II, FC Bayern Alzenau, SSV Ulm 1846, 1. FC Eschborn, FC 08 Homburg Rules & regulations Promotion to the 3rd Liga The league champions of the five new regional leagues no longer have the right to direct promotion to the 3rd Liga. Instead, the five league winners and the runners-up of the Süd/Südwest would play-off for three promotion spots. The play-offs are played in home-and-away format, and the two clubs from the Süd/Südwest region can not be paired against each other. As four teams were relegated from the 3rd Liga at the end of the 2018–19 season, the Regionalliga Südwest champions Waldhof Mannheim, along with their counterparts from the Nordost and West, were promoted directly to the league. In 2020, the three direct promotion spots will go to the Südwest champions and the champions of the two leagues that participated in the promotion play-off in the previous season, while the champions of the Nordost and the West participate in the play-off. This format was initially installed as a temporary solution until the DFB-Bundestag in September 2019 decided on a format that could have enabled all Regionalliga champions to be promoted. On that date, the Bundestag delegates voted to grant the Südwest and West champions two direct promotions indefinitely starting in 2021. A third direct promotion place will be assigned according to a rotation principle among the Regionalliga Nord, Nordost and Bayern champions. The representatives from the remaining two Regionalligen will determine the fourth promoted club in two-legged playoffs. Qualifying The new league was nominally going to have 18 clubs; however, in its