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Clemens Tönnies resigns
Clemens Tönnies is no longer the chairman of the FC Schalke 04 supervisory board. The meat manufacturer, which has been heavily criticized, is stepping down from his post with immediate effect.
Clemens Tönnies is no longer the chairman of the supervisory board of the Bundesliga soccer club FC Schalke 04. The meat manufacturer, which was heavily criticized in his company because of the Corona outbreak, resigned from his post.
Clemens Tönnies will resign from all positions at FC Schalke 04 with immediate effect. That reported “image” first. The pressure on his person has become too great. The entrepreneur is currently exposed to great public criticism because of massive outbreaks of the Corona virus in his meat factory in Rheda-Wiedenbrück, which resulted in a lockdown on the Gütersloh and Warendorf districts.
In the club, the scandal made Tönnies even more controversial after a racism incident in the previous year. Last Saturday Schalke fans organized a demonstration demanding the 64-year-old’s resignation. He took this step now.
“It has always been an honor for me to serve this big club for over a quarter of a century. And it fills me with gratitude and some pride that the members have confirmed me again and again as a member of the supervisory board. Of course, I will stay connected to FC Schalke 04 for a lifetime, ”Tönnies himself wrote to the club in his resignation request.
“As a member and chairman of the supervisory board, Clemens Tönnies has played a decisive role in the fact that FC Schalke 04 has established itself as one of the sporting and economic heavyweights in the Bundesliga over the past 26 years,” said Alexander Jobst and Jochen Schneider, FC board members Schalke 04, quoted in a message from the club.
“Valuable advisor and contact person”
His international network, his strong entrepreneurial spirit and his passionate commitment shaped the association in a special way, it was said. “Clemens Tönnies was always available to us on the board as a valuable advisor and contact person. We know how difficult it was for him to make this decision, so we deserve our utmost respect. ”
Jens Buchta, deputy chairman of the supervisory board of FC Schalke 04, said that Tönnies’ decision would be greatly regretted. He had shaped the committee as chairman in the past years and decades with its mixture of down-to-earthness and dynamism. “Again and again he was the engine that initiated pioneering processes and was responsible for the process. With his experience and expertise in his role as Chairman of the Supervisory Board, he will be difficult to replace, ”said Buchta.
Tönnies has been a member of the Schalke supervisory board since 1994, he has been its chairman since 2001 and has supported the club financially during this time.
Wednesday invited Schalke to the press conference
In difficult times, the club squeeze 197 million euros in debt, the second leader in Schalke goes within a few weeks. Only at the beginning of June, CFO Peter Peters, after 27 years in office, announced his resignation on June 30, the day on which Tönnies also took his hat.
Tönnies has become the face of Schalke in recent years. His critics often accused him of leading the association out of the supervisory board and interfering too often in the work of the board. But the impulsive entrepreneur found it difficult to withdraw.
Schalke had actually announced a press conference with sports director Jochen Schneider for Monday, but had rescheduled it to Wednesday. There it should definitely no longer be about sport.
In addition to the Tönnies personnel, a supposed guarantee also makes headlines with which the state of North Rhine-Westphalia is supposed to want to make Schalke creditworthy again. We are talking about 30 to 40 million euros.
NRW Prime Minister Armin Laschet (CDU) made evasive statements on this topic on Tuesday. He could not confirm reports of public aid for Schalke 04, he said at a press conference in Düsseldorf.
This is what Armin Laschet says about a possible guarantee
According to the “Handelsblatt”, FC Schalke 04 is to receive public aid. Accordingly, North Rhine-Westphalia is planning a guarantee for the financially troubled Bundesliga club in the amount of 40 million euros. This is what Prime Minister Armin Laschet says.
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