Press review on BVB presidential election: "Humiliation for Watzke" | OneFootball

Hans-Joachim Watzke is the new president of Borussia Dortmund. At the general meeting on Sunday, he was newly elected to this position—with the worst possible support among the participants of the election. The press is looking at the reasons for this weak result for the long-time managing director of BVB.

First, the bare numbers: Borussia Dortmund currently has around 237,000 members. However, only 4,466 people participated in the election. Of those, 2,515 voted for Hans-Joachim Watzke as the new BVB president, 1,729 against him, even though there was no other candidate. 232 people abstained from making a decision in the election. That amounts to an approval rate of only 59 percent.

For the Süddeutsche Zeitung, this result is nothing less than a “humiliation for Watzke,” whose camp had expected at least 75 percent approval. Watzke reportedly did not want to accept the position if the result was below 70 percent, which, as is known, turned out differently.

At Welt, they write of a “revolution” that took place at BVB—also due to other decisions.

Even boos were clearly audible when Hans-Joachim Watzke stood on stage, as Kicker reports. All of this has its reasons in an internal conflict that, according to the media, will also affect other traditional clubs in the future.

Photo: IMAGO

Many Sources of Conflict Led to Turning Away from the BVB Boss

For Kicker, the result was even more than a “warning shot,” rather a “punishment,” which visibly affected Watzke. However, it was also the consequence of a series of conflicts that Watzke had to deal with, especially in recent months.

His handling of the abuse scandal drew as much criticism as the sponsorship deal with arms manufacturer Rheinmetall. Added to this was the petty feud with his predecessor Lunow and another scandal involving his use of private jets. All of this, along with his “autocratic attitude,” virtually invited such a poor election result as has now occurred, comments DerWesten. He had recently run Borussia Dortmund “like a feudal lord,” polarized with many statements, and ultimately pushed through his will. He was able to do this as managing director. As president of the entire club, whose members almost half refused to follow him, he can no longer do so.

How Watzke will deal with this slap in the face will now be interesting to see. As the head of the club’s handball, boxing, or table tennis divisions, he will have to work hard to bridge the divides that have arisen, believes ran. Given his numerous other positions at DFL, DFB, and UEFA, however, it remains to be seen how Watzke will fulfill the honorary office of BVB president that he has now been given.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇩🇪 here.