Eintracht Frankfurt’s board spokesman, Axel Hellmann, is relaxed about the future double task as managing director of the German Football League. “I’ve been elected to the DFL Executive Committee since August and have already spent at least one day a week on DFL topics. Now there’s a second day, that doesn’t make the cabbage fat either,” said Hellmann in the Hessian football podcast -Bundesliga.
After the separation from Donata Hopfen, Hellmann will temporarily lead the umbrella organization of German professional football from January 1 until the end of the season together with Oliver Leki, CFO of SC Freiburg. You will “have to push a few things that are left behind,” said the 51-year-old.
The most urgent tasks include the future strategic orientation on the question of whether the league wants to open up to external investors and a solution requested by the cartel office when implementing the 50 1 rule. In principle, this states that the decision-making majority must always remain with the parent club when investing. The Bundeskartellamt had classified the 50 1 rule in 2021 as harmless in terms of sports policy, but at the same time criticized the three exceptions for TSG 1899 Hoffenheim, Bayer Leverkusen and VfL Wolfsburg. Since then, the clarification process has been ongoing.
Despite the additional burden, Hellmann reported that he did not hesitate to accept the task. “How am I supposed to point out to colleagues in Hamburg, or in Dortmund, in Nuremberg or in Munich, to do that when I’m here on site and wouldn’t be willing to do it. It’s clear that I’d rather do that I have the chance to drive to the Frankfurt headquarters to sign something or to speak to employees,” he said, emphasizing: “It is in the higher interest that this is done.”
The fact that the supervisory board entrusted him and Leki with the task did not come as a surprise to him. “We haven’t worked so badly in recent years. If you think about who should be chosen for an interim solution, you would come to Freiburg and Frankfurt relatively quickly. That’s why I think it’s understandable,” said Hellmann.
Hellmann in the Eintracht Podcast
