Watzke Named Borussia Dortmund President – Latest News

First there were mishaps and applause, then criticism and a clear reminder: By electing Hans-Joachim Watzke as president, the members of Borussia Dortmund say they have fulfilled a “lifelong dream”. At the XXL general meeting, the long-time managing director of BVB-Kapitalgesellschaft was clearly punished. The 66-year-old only received 59 percent of the votes six and a half hours after the delayed start of the emotional event. Internally, they had hoped for a result of at least 70 percent.

“I accept the election and pay respect to my critics,” said Watzke after the reminder, the announcement of which was also accompanied by boos in the Westfalenhalle. “I have a lot of humility and respect for this task,” said Watzke, who was the only presidential candidate.

Watzke had previously resigned from his position as managing director of BVB’s KGaA and was celebrated for several minutes. The 66-year-old appeared emotional during his farewell speech and struggled with the words several times. “There’s a lot of melancholy there,” said Watzke, who looked back on almost 21 years as managing director of the BVB capital company: the impending bankruptcy in 2005 at the beginning of his work, the bomb attack on the team bus in 2017 (“that was a turning point”) and the corona pandemic.

“We have looked into the abyss several times,” said Watzke and then surprisingly turned to an opponent of the past few months: the previous President Reinhold Lunow, who initially wanted to run against Watzke as a presidential candidate, but withdrew after a public dispute that lasted for months. “Dear Reinhold Lunow: You always supported me and were there when we looked into the abyss. I would like to thank you very much for that today,” said Watzke.

Lunow himself reacted with emotion. “We have done a lot of things together. The fact that there have been difficulties recently, that we have been separated, was not necessarily our personal fault. It was also due to people around us who encouraged it. That was not necessary,” said the 72-year-old through tears, wished Watzke “all the best” in his work as club president and then hugged him.

During his term as head of management at BVB-Kapitalgesellschaft, Watzke restructured the Bundesliga club and turned it into Bayern Munich’s biggest adversary. During this time, BVB became German champions twice, won the DFB Cup three times and reached two Champions League finals. His successor as sports director Lars Ricken praised Watzke as a “cunning fox” who “fought like a lion for BVB” and gave the team and coach Niko Kovac a task. “I would like our future president Aki to be able to hold the DFB Cup in his hands at the end of the season,” said Ricken. In addition to many benevolent words and applause, there was also criticism. Watzke himself addressed an unpleasant topic. “This is something that affected me deeply,” he said of allegations of abuse against a former long-time employee in the 1990s. “It just makes you feel sick. You shudder,” said Watzke about reports from those affected, to whom he expressed his “deepest sympathy.”

Two law firms were commissioned to process the cases. “If there were omissions – and there obviously were – then we will put an end to them. Because things like that can no longer happen at Borussia Dortmund,” said Watzke. However, there was criticism from the members about the way the abuse allegations were handled and the public dispute with Lunow. The fan department chairman Tobias Westerfellhaus spoke of “questionable turns in an election campaign that was ultimately not an election campaign” and received loud applause. “These months have shown that our club urgently needs changes,” said Westerfellhaus. The controversial advertising deal with the arms company Rheinmetall was also discussed again.

Watzke’s choice was also marked by technical glitches. Due to “technical problems,” the meeting began exactly one hour later than planned. Several hundred members had to wait longer than planned to gain entry to Westfalenhalle 3 in the morning. The event took place in hybrid form for the first time, so that theoretically all club members could have voted digitally.

Even if Watzke has to take care of the handball and table tennis departments in the club in the future, his influence in football remains great. He continues to be chairman of the supervisory board of the German Football League, DFB vice-president and member of the UEFA executive committee.