SC Freiburg has extended the contracts with the board members Oliver Leki and Jochen Saier in the long term. Leki is currently one of the most powerful people in German professional football.
Board members at SC Freiburg and also active in the DFL: Oliver Leki and Jochen Saier (right).
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They weren’t involved on the field, and yet Oliver Leki and Jochen Saier are among the great guarantors of success in the recent Freiburg club history. Now the two board members have extended their contracts, which are still valid until 2024, to 2027. This was announced by the SC on Monday. Both will then have worked for the club for well over a decade.
Leki, who previously worked for 1. FC Köln, came to Freiburg as managing director in autumn 2013 and has been the board member responsible for finance, organization and marketing since 2014. Saier, who is six years younger at 44, has even been working full-time for the SC since 2002. The graduate sports economist headed the Freiburg football school until 2013, then became sports director alongside Klemens Hartenbach and was promoted to sports director in October 2014. He is responsible for the entire sporting area, including the women’s and girls’ soccer departments and the youth academy.
“Probably the most successful time in the club’s history”
So they significantly shaped a time in which the people of Freiburg not only reached new spheres in sport. Coach Christian Streich’s team is currently playing – in a new stadium – in fifth place for the first Champions League qualification and as a quarter-finalist for the DFB Cup, the final of which they reached in 2021/22. In the Europa League, the round of 16 against Juventus Turin starts this Thursday.
“SC Freiburg is currently going through what is probably the most successful time in its club history in terms of sport, business and organization,” says SC Supervisory Board Chairman Dr. Heinrich Broad. “Oliver Leki and Jochen Saier have played a key role in shaping and shaping this positive overall development in recent years. We are very pleased that we were able to extend the contracts with both board members ahead of time.
For Breit’s deputy Johannes Baumgartner, Leki and Saier “with their many years of membership in the club stand for the personal continuity that makes our club strong and special. We as the supervisory board are convinced that they will continue to lead our club successfully with their proven competence and personality.”
Leki is currently at the top of the DFL
With Leki, Freiburg currently have one of the most powerful figures in German professional football in their ranks. The DFB Presidium member will remain at the head of the DFL on an interim basis together with Axel Hellmann until the end of the season. Leki has also been on the supervisory board there since 2019, but is currently doing so. Saier has been a member of the DFL Football Committee since 2016.
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“SC Freiburg is something special for me in many ways and I feel very connected to the club,” says Leki. “I’m looking forward to the next few years and I’m convinced that together we will successfully continue the positive development of the past few years.”
Saier is also proud of his long club affiliation: “It means a lot to me to have been able to accompany and help shape the path of the SC for more than 20 years. I am happy to continue to be part of this special club, which is developing step by step and continuously and is characterized by genuine collaboration at many different levels.”
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