These are the days of chaos in German football: both the German Football Association and the German Football League are reorganizing themselves. Important steps for a more successful future must be set. The key figure is Hans-Joachim Watzke, the boss of BVB.
First set the course at the DFB for a successful European Championship at home, then pull through the “coup” at the DFL: Hans-Joachim Watzke had a lot less stress on business trips than on this Wednesday. The crisis-tested top manager is increasingly becoming a key figure in the midst of the chaos in German football. No major decision will be made without the 63-year-old’s approval.
In his function as Vice President, Watzke first listened to the analysis of national coach Hansi Flick together with DFB boss Bernd Neuendorf in Frankfurt/Main after the World Cup embarrassment. The planned round of four was blown up by the premature departure of Oliver Bierhoff. Watzke was never considered a friend of Bierhoff and always viewed him critically. Even when the controversial term “The Team” was abolished, he successfully played a one-two with Neuendorf. The duo is now also in demand when it comes to the national coach.
But that’s not the only source of fire that the DFL supervisory board chairman Watzke has to extinguish. The plan for the crisis in the German Football League: Watzke and the other five supervisory board members withdraw their trust from DFL boss Donata Hopfen. Then Axel Hellmann from Eintracht Frankfurt and Freiburg’s Oliver Leki will be released from their clubs to lead the professional association on an interim basis. The successor should be settled by next summer.
Watzke is gaining more and more power and influence. Already during the messed up World Cup in Qatar, several national players are said to have spoken out in favor of greater participation by the managing director of Borussia Dortmund – for example in the annoying debate about the “One Love” armband at the end. Watzke had previously taken a clear position and criticized the world association. The way FIFA is showing itself at the moment, it is a single catastrophe, said Watzke.
The CDU member is considered a man of clear words. He doesn’t shy away from confrontations, as Thomas Tuchel had to discover in Dortmund. The chairman of the state league club SV Rot-Weiss Erlinghausen, for whom he himself played in the amateur field for 30 years, is still popular with the base. In many of the powerful state associations, Watzke is considered down-to-earth, he is one for “hard work”, one hears.
But what exactly is he planning? You don’t need much imagination to imagine that “Aki” is at least putting out feelers for his fat buddy Jürgen Klopp. Watzke still mourns the shared success at BVB today.
If Flick, who was ordered to report, convinces his bosses that he has the right solutions ready for the home European Championship 2024 and wants to continue after Bierhoff’s departure, a team manager could be assigned to him. Even with this personnel, nothing goes without Watzke’s consent.