Wasn’t Watzke resigning this summer already or am I misremembering
MountainMedia8850 on
Watzke is a sad jike
Lunow must win and will win
kiddpk on
Can someone present me with an argument why he would be better? Honestly speaking
FiresideCatsmile on
President Lunow wants to run for the office of president? In other words, he wants to confirm the position he’s already in for the next period.
Well, colour me shocked. Isn’t that the most obvious thing? I’m going to vote for Lunow 100%.
RizenBOS on
Because Watzke, in my view, misunderstands—or wants to misunderstand—the role of the president and how a club is supposed to function. Watzke is a power-driven person, used to being the one in charge. For him, there are only two opinions: his own and the wrong one. With this mindset, he is not suitable to be president of BVB e.V.
First, you need to understand the structure in which BVB is organized. There is a clear separation between the professional team, the U23, and the U19 squads on one side—and all other football teams (all other youth teams, women’s teams) and departments (handball, table tennis, blind football, fan department) on the other. The professional team, U23, and U19 are part of Borussia Dortmund GmbH & Co. KGaA, where Watzke is CEO. Everything else is organized under BVB e.V. The shares of the KGaA are publicly traded and largely held in free float. However, BVB e.V. controls the management of the KGaA through a specific legal structure. However, this also means: The e.V. does not have the authority to issue binding instructions to the KGaA. But if the management acts against its will, it could, in theory, be dismissed.
The president of the e.V. represents the members and is tasked with running the club according to their will. The general assembly of members is the highest authority in the club—even above the president. The decisions made by this assembly are binding, and the president is required to implement them.
Furthermore, the president must represent all members and departments equally and fairly.
All of this speaks against Watzke and his leadership style to date. At the last general assembly (of the e.V.), members submitted motions calling on the club leadership to influence the management of the KGaA to end the sponsorship deal with Rheinmetall as soon as possible. The motion was approved. Watzke then stated that he had taken note of the vote, but did not intend to act on it because it wasn’t a ballot of *all* members. In doing so, he disregards the fact that a decision made at the general assembly is legitimate, sufficient, and binding for the club leadership.
Club president Reinhold Lunow, in contrast, accepted the decision and positioned himself against the Rheinmetall deal in line with the members’ directive.
Watzke is always willing to accept the decisions of the members—*as long as* they align with his own agenda. Otherwise, he just ignores them. To me, someone who disregards the club’s statutes and the decisions of its members is not suitable to be club president.
If he runs for president, I will attend the general assembly for the first time in my 30 years as a member—just to vote for Lunow. The general assembly is our last remaining way, as fans and members, to have any (theoretical) influence over decisions made by the club and potentially the KGaA. I don’t want to hand that power over to someone who ignores member decisions whenever they don’t suit him, who steps down as CEO just to stroke his own ego, and ultimately just pushes his own agenda.
Lunow, during his term so far, has shown that he has his own opinion—but is willing to put it aside when the members’ will requires it. He understands what the office demands of him, and he has acted accordingly up to this point.
5 Comments
Wasn’t Watzke resigning this summer already or am I misremembering
Watzke is a sad jike
Lunow must win and will win
Can someone present me with an argument why he would be better? Honestly speaking
President Lunow wants to run for the office of president? In other words, he wants to confirm the position he’s already in for the next period.
Well, colour me shocked. Isn’t that the most obvious thing? I’m going to vote for Lunow 100%.
Because Watzke, in my view, misunderstands—or wants to misunderstand—the role of the president and how a club is supposed to function. Watzke is a power-driven person, used to being the one in charge. For him, there are only two opinions: his own and the wrong one. With this mindset, he is not suitable to be president of BVB e.V.
First, you need to understand the structure in which BVB is organized. There is a clear separation between the professional team, the U23, and the U19 squads on one side—and all other football teams (all other youth teams, women’s teams) and departments (handball, table tennis, blind football, fan department) on the other. The professional team, U23, and U19 are part of Borussia Dortmund GmbH & Co. KGaA, where Watzke is CEO. Everything else is organized under BVB e.V. The shares of the KGaA are publicly traded and largely held in free float. However, BVB e.V. controls the management of the KGaA through a specific legal structure. However, this also means: The e.V. does not have the authority to issue binding instructions to the KGaA. But if the management acts against its will, it could, in theory, be dismissed.
The president of the e.V. represents the members and is tasked with running the club according to their will. The general assembly of members is the highest authority in the club—even above the president. The decisions made by this assembly are binding, and the president is required to implement them.
Furthermore, the president must represent all members and departments equally and fairly.
All of this speaks against Watzke and his leadership style to date. At the last general assembly (of the e.V.), members submitted motions calling on the club leadership to influence the management of the KGaA to end the sponsorship deal with Rheinmetall as soon as possible. The motion was approved. Watzke then stated that he had taken note of the vote, but did not intend to act on it because it wasn’t a ballot of *all* members. In doing so, he disregards the fact that a decision made at the general assembly is legitimate, sufficient, and binding for the club leadership.
Club president Reinhold Lunow, in contrast, accepted the decision and positioned himself against the Rheinmetall deal in line with the members’ directive.
Watzke is always willing to accept the decisions of the members—*as long as* they align with his own agenda. Otherwise, he just ignores them. To me, someone who disregards the club’s statutes and the decisions of its members is not suitable to be club president.
If he runs for president, I will attend the general assembly for the first time in my 30 years as a member—just to vote for Lunow. The general assembly is our last remaining way, as fans and members, to have any (theoretical) influence over decisions made by the club and potentially the KGaA. I don’t want to hand that power over to someone who ignores member decisions whenever they don’t suit him, who steps down as CEO just to stroke his own ego, and ultimately just pushes his own agenda.
Lunow, during his term so far, has shown that he has his own opinion—but is willing to put it aside when the members’ will requires it. He understands what the office demands of him, and he has acted accordingly up to this point.