The German Football League (DFL) said Eintracht could stay in the second division after courts in Stuttgart and Frankfurt reversed a German Football Association (DFB) decision in June revoking their licence because the club did not meet league financial rules.

Relegated SpVgg Unterhaching tried to have the decision revoking Eintracht's playing licence upheld in the courts, as that would have allowed the former first division side to take Eintracht's place in the second division.

'This is a good day for football, for the fans and for Frankfurt,' Frankfurt's mayor Petra Roth said in a statement.

'Hopefully in future the decision about who stays up and who gets relegated will be decided on the pitch and not in the courtroom. I'm particularly glad for the fans -- they can cheer Eintracht to the top of the table,' said Roth.

Frankfurt's Waldstadion, located just outside the German financial capital in a forest area, is being renovated for the World Cup finals in Germany in 2006 and Roth said it was important Eintracht stay in the higher leagues to underline the city's commitment to sport.

ROCKED BY SCANDAL

Eintracht, who were beaten 7-3 by Real Madrid at Glasgow's Hampden Park in 1960 in what many football analysts consider the greatest game of football ever, have been rocked by a series of financial scandals in recent years.

The club was docked two points in the 1999/2000 season for financial irregularities but managed to stay up by winning on the last day of the season.

The 2000/2001 season saw the club relegated for the second time since 1996 and they finished last season in seventh place in the second division.

In April this year, the DFL demanded that Eintracht show that it had 11.5 million euros in liquidity or else lose its licence to play in the second division.

The club finally came up with the money in June, just hours after Roth had taken part in a ceremony to lay the foundation stone for the new stadium.

Eintracht's supervisory board chairman Volker Sparmann welcomed the court decision but told the Frankfurter Neue Presse that the pressure was now on to get Eintracht into shape -- on the field and in the boardroom -- ahead of a new season.

'Actually there is nothing to celebrate, we've lost 14 days. We'll have to look closely to make sure we don't make mistakes by being too euphoric. We'll make sure the budget is balanced and our savings plan will get even tougher,' Sparmann said.

There was applause on Thursday in the courtroom when the judge read out her decision and Eintracht's financial controller Thomas Proeckl said he could finally smile again.