Donata Hopfen has been the head of the German Football League for less than a year. She resigns prematurely – and then speaks of a lack of support. But she doesn’t want to know anything about the fact that she can’t show enough success.
Donata Hopfen also attributes her failed engagement at the top of the German Football League (DFL) to a lack of support. In order to make the DFL fit for the future, it takes “staying power, the support and the joint action of all stakeholders. In the end I no longer felt this,” wrote the 46-year-old in a post on the social network LinkedIn.
The short term was “a wild ride”. On January 1, Hopfen succeeded long-time DFL boss Christian Seifert, and she will now step down again at the end of the year. The contract originally ran until the end of 2024. On Wednesday evening, the DFL announced the “amicable” separation.
According to Hopfen, this was “inevitable for me after many discussions over the past few days and the developments of the past few weeks”. “Too different” are the views on the desired transformation of the league.
“Like many before me, I came into this job from outside, as a non-soccer player, as a woman with a clear plan on how the DFL can be led into the future: digitally, internationally and with strong partners and shareholders,” wrote you. However, this path is “a feat of strength and requires courage. You often act on new terrain, positive results usually only become apparent much later.”
It was “reported differently”, but “a lot has changed, implemented and initiated in the eleven months: A viable future strategy for German professional football has emerged, large cooperations such as the one with the NFL have been initiated and important gaps in marketing closed.”
