Schalke’s chairman, Clemens Tönnies, has stepped down after 19 years after an outbreak of Covid-19 in one of his meat factories and after a gloomy Bundesliga season for the club.
For months, the fans had demanded that Tönnies, a billionaire meat producer, resign and that the team be in free fall after the winter break. On Tuesday he decided to leave.
Already in the past year he had infuriated many supporters with comments that linked climate change to the overpopulation in Africa, which the German association classified as racist, and then voluntarily resigned for three months.
He made headlines again 10 days ago when more than 1,000 employees in one of his meat processing plants tested positive for coronavirus, which prompted local health authorities to quarantine all 6,500 of his workers and their families.
The localized block was a setback for Germany’s reopening strategy. To survive the difficult 12 months for 64-year-old Tönnies, who has been on the Schalke board for 26 years, the team finished 12th in the Bundesliga last week and missed European football after setting a club record of 16 had consecutive league games without a win.
“We as the board regret Clemens Tönnies’ decision,” said Schalke’s deputy chairman, Jens Buchta, in a statement. “As chairman, he left his mark on the board with a mixture of dynamism and down-to-earthness. He was often the engine that started and accompanied new processes. “
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