Timo Boll becomes BVB brand ambassador | OneFootball

“Boll is still Boll, the warm-hearted, down-to-earth superstar from the Odenwald. If there were an Olympic gold medal for being normal and decent, Boll would certainly win it. At a World Championship, he once had his victory annulled because the ball had touched the edge of the table unnoticed on match point. The point was repeated and Boll lost, but he had a clean conscience. (...) Whether it's Shanghai or Beijing, Boll can't go anywhere without being recognised. They've even closed down streets so he can cross them,” Süddeutsche Zeitung once said of Timo Boll.

And it is on those very streets that the seven-time Olympian (and serial medal winner), eight-time Champions League winner and eight-time European singles champion, who was the first German to be ranked No. 1 in the world in table-tennis, will be representing Borussia Dortmund in the future.

“Combining the larger football with the smaller table tennis ball makes sense here because Timo Boll, as a long-time fan, has cheered on BVB in every match in the past despite all the stresses and strains of travelling and tournaments, and has always been very emotional in his fandom. Thanks to his enormous popularity and positivity in Asia, he can open relevant doors for us and authentically represent us as a brand ambassador. We look forward to many joint activities with Timo and to an intensive cooperation in the digital world as well,” said Borussia Dortmund's Managing Director Carsten Cramer.

Boll, who retired as a player only a few months ago, will – at his own request – complete an internship at BVB lasting several weeks, among other things, so that he can get to know the club and its various fields of work in Germany and beyond even better during that time. He is now BVB's fifth brand ambassador – and the only one without a professional football background. In addition to Timo Boll, Dortmund icons Karl-Heinz Riedle, Jörg Heinrich, Roman Weidenfeller and Patrick Owomoyela regularly fly the Black & Yellow flag around the world.

Timo Boll is looking forward to the task of representing BVB, particularly in China: “It will certainly be exciting when I suddenly find myself on football pitches instead of in table tennis halls.” He went on to explain: “There's a simple reason for the internship. I was once asked if I could imagine going into an office every morning at 9 o'clock. I replied that I didn't know because I've only ever been in training halls since I was a child. Now I want to see what I'll be doing for the next 20 years. With that in mind, BVB is a really exciting challenge for me.”