Dhe District Court of Hanover also ruled in favor of the majority shareholder in the oral hearing in the case regarding the dismissal of Martin Kind as Managing Director of Hannover 96 Management GmbH by the parent association. Judge Carsten Peter Schulze stated on Tuesday that the association’s decision to recall the child for important reasons was void. This means that the 78-year-old can continue to work without restrictions.
In a so-called urgent legal proceeding in mid-August, the district court initially allowed Kind to continue working as managing director until the hearing. Before that, he had surprisingly been recalled in July by the leadership of the parent club.
However, the decision does not settle the dispute, as the German Football League had intervened in the conflict between the parent club and the professional football manager. The “Bild” newspaper and the “Neue Presse” in Hanover quoted on Monday from a letter they had from the DFL legal advisor Jürgen Paepke, which should be understood as a clear warning to the child.
Defeat for parent club
The DFL insists on the club’s “unrestricted right to issue instructions” to the capital side. In the case of the second division football club, this is “an essential requirement that the structure is still considered compatible with the 50+1 rule”. However, the parent association sees its right to issue instructions as restricted.
The decision is another defeat for the parent club, which was represented in court by the head of the supervisory board, Ralf Nestler. After the preliminary decision in August, the head of the eV appealed to the Celle Higher Regional Court. The parent club is also likely to defend itself against the latest decision.
The dispute is also due to the complicated structure: Kind is the majority shareholder of Hannover 96 Sales&Service GmbH&Co. KG, which owns 100 percent of professional football KGaA. However, since the 50+1 rule in Germany stipulates that the parent association must always have the majority of votes in an outsourced corporation, the managing directors of the KGaA are appointed by Hannover 96 Management GmbH. It is 100 percent owned by the parent club.
