Overview
- One week before the members’ meeting, the 66-year-old confirms he will stand to be elected Borussia Dortmund president after two decades as chief executive.
- He describes an unprecedented six months of internal strife following Reinhold Lunow’s initial plan to run again, saying their long-standing relationship is now being normalized.
- Defending the Rheinmetall partnership, he says every committee approved it and that the deal would have been dropped with a single dissenting vote, while committing to revisit any extension transparently in 2026 after members opposed it in 2024.
- He confirms BDO’s forensic unit has been engaged with full access to review historical abuse allegations and recounts that he forwarded concerns in 2010 to then-president Reinhard Rauball believing the matter was resolved.
- He pledges a strict separation of roles by not joining the KGaA supervisory board if elected and outlines reforms including a statutes commission in spring 2026, professionalized grassroots sport with a new hall, and progress on the fan house targeted for 2027.