„We do not recognise your dictatorial measures and will not play in Hannover on Sunday. Stop. We consider ourselves bound by the contractual requirements agreed in Braunschweig.“ With these firm words aimed at the haughty Zonal committee executive director A. Weber, BVB reacted angrily at the unsporting actions of the association. In BVB 1948 BVB were declared winners of the west German league ”Oberliga West“ and were looking forward to taking part on the Zonal Championship, the first ”German“ league since the war ended. BVB had beaten Werder Bremen in Hannover 3-2 aet, but Weber opined that BVB should now play St Pauli and not, as had been previously planned, Braunschweig. Weber also pushed through as the date of the game to be the 8th of May rather than the 9th, so on a work day. This was only made known to BVB on the 5th of May. It needs to be noted that the entire BVB team is employed and would have had to ask for extra leave from their employers, hence the telegram. The association response was: ”Borussia Dortmund have decided not to follow the timetable and game plan laid out by the Zonal committee and will therefore be excluded from the German championship. TSV Braunschweig is the third representative from North West Germany. A charge against Borussia will be laid before the North- Rhine Westphalian association.“