Tatjana Haenni is making history, as of January 1st the Swiss will be the first club boss in the men’s Bundesliga. A companion emphasizes: What is important is not symbolism, but rather your international experience, leadership strength and your network.
This day has something historic: Since January 1st, Tatjana Haenni has become the first woman to lead a Bundesliga club as the top boss. She is now CEO of RB Leipzig. Through her jobs at UEFA, Fifa, the Swiss Football Association and the US Women’s League, the 59-year-old Swiss is internationally networked and very experienced. A long-time companion reports on what else sets Haenni apart.
Siegfried Dietrich was the creator of the successful club FFC Frankfurt and an official at the DFB, for example as committee chairman of the women’s Bundesliga and worked closely with Haenni for many years. “The decision in favor of Tatjana Haenni is outstanding and extremely smart,” says 68-year-old Dietrich: “She is a real personality with extensive know-how and great international experience in the football business. She has first-class leadership qualities, strength of conviction, enormous charisma and, with her network, always has an eye for the big picture.”
For Dietrich, the question of whether she can assert herself as a woman in men’s football does not arise. “I am not at all basing her future perception in the world of men’s football at a top international club on the fact that she is now making history as the first woman in this position, but I am absolutely convinced of the far-reaching qualities that she brings to this job.”
Effect on women’s football too?
Haenni once played 23 international matches for Switzerland and then made a career as an official. She worked for many years at Uefa, where she was largely responsible for the development and professionalization of women’s football, then moved to FIFA and also took on managerial tasks in women’s football there. She later took over the management of women’s football at the Swiss Football Association and became the first woman to join the management team. Then Haenni went to work as sporting director of the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) in the USA.
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Even though Red Bull boss Oliver Mintzlaff (50) emphasized in this interview that Leipzig would not focus more on women’s football under Haenni, Dietrich expects an effect.
“I have known Tatjana in many roles for over 25 years, and I am sure that she will also be a great asset to women’s football in Leipzig and will advance and develop it significantly and with great sustainability,” says the Frankfurter. “With Tatjana Haenni as CEO, I trust RB to close the gap with Bayern, Wolfsburg and Frankfurt and to exploit the club’s great potential for women’s football with a view to the 2029 European Championship.”
The text was written for the Sports Competence Center (WELT, „Bild“, “Sport Image”) created and first published in “Sport Bild”.
