Bremen – The influence of women at SV Werder Bremen has recently increased a good deal: following Ulrike Hiller (Supervisory Board) and Claudia Lasch (Vice-President), Anne-Kathrin Laufmann now has her new post as Managing Director Sport and Sustainability officially started with the Bundesliga club.
That means three at Werder Women in management positions and play a leading role in shaping the sporting, social and socio-political future of the club. In football Germany the SV Werder Bremen can definitely be described as a pioneer. Because: Although a comparison with other clubs may be a bit awkward here and there due to the different structures, it is clear that not everywhere the focus is on women in management as much as on the Weser. An overview.
Werder Bremen: The professional sport of SV Werder Bremen has been outsourced to a GmbH & Co. KG. 100 percent of the shares are held by the association (42,407 members). In Anne Kathrin Laufmann (Managing Director Sport and Sustainability in the KG), Ulrike Hiller (Supervisory Board member in the KG) and Claudia Lasch (Vice-President in the association) are three Women represented in the management level. At Werder, they are the first women to sit on their committees.
With Anne-Kathrin Laufmann, Ulrike Hiller and Claudia Lasch, there are three women on SV Werder Bremen committees
SC Freiburg: SC Freiburg continues to operate exclusively as a registered association (more than 46,000 members). At the sports club from Breisgau, there are also three women on the management floor, but all on the supervisory board: Edith Sitzmann (former finance minister of the state of Baden-Württemberg), Hannelore Stocker and Helen Hall-Salomon.
Borussia Dortmund: The ball club Borussia Dortmund (short: BVB) has founded a GmbH & Co. KGaA for its professional department. 60.07 percent of the shares are in free float. Evonik holds the most shares with 14.8 percent. The parent club with 168,163 members holds 5.5 percent. At Borussia Dortmund there are two women on the supervisory board: Silke Seidel, who is also the club’s deputy president, and Judit Dommermuth.
Hertha BSC: Hertha BSC has also spun off its professional department into a GmbH & Co. KGaA. The US investment company 777 Partners holds 64.7 percent. The parent club has 44,211 members. At Hertha in Berlin, which has a former ultra and fan representative of the club in Kay Bernstein as president, two women work on the management floor in Anne Jiingermann (member of the executive committee) and Renate Döhmer (supervisory board).
1. FSV Mainz 05: The 1st football and sports club Mainz 05 operates as a registered association with around 14,000 members. The 05ers also have two women on the supervisory board, lawyer Eva-Maria Federhenn (Head of Sport Handball at FSV) and entrepreneur Cäcilia Alsfasser.
Six Bundesliga clubs have two women on management boards
RB Leipzig: Since the promotion of the first team to the 2nd Bundesliga in 2014, the licensed player department and the youth teams U15 to U19 have been spun off into a limited liability company, of which Red Bull GmbH holds 99 percent and the club one percent. Since the club members also have a close relationship with Red Bull, the club is effectively controlled by Red Bull GmbH. The RB Leipzig club has 21 members. After all, there are two women in the management of the club: Bärbel Milsch is the legal director on the board, while the lawyer Wiebke Gorny sits on the supervisory board.
VfB Stuttgart: VfB Stuttgart 1893 has spun off its licensed players department into a stock corporation, in which the parent club holds 87.23 percent of the shares. The other 11.61 percent are distributed among the Mercedes-Benz Group and 1.16 percent among Jako AG. The supervisory board of the Baden-Württemberger has nine members, including two women. Beate Beck-Deharde, managing partner in a medium-sized mechanical engineering company since 1991, joined in September 2022. Tanja Gönner, whose main job is Managing Director of the Federation of German Industries, is also new.
VfL Bochum: Since 2018, the licensed player department of VfL Bochum has been spun off into a GmbH & Co. KGaA. The parent club has 22,123 members. VfL Bochum only has one woman on the management floor: Dr. Christina Reinhardt was elected to the VfL Executive Committee during the general meeting on November 15, 2022. Since 2015 she has been Chancellor of the Ruhr University Bochum. The 54-year-old is also on the club’s board of directors.
Alongside Werder Bremen and Union Berlin, Schalke 04 is one of three Bundesliga clubs with a woman on the executive board
FC Schalke 04 is a registered club and with almost 164,000 members it is the fifth largest German sports club. In addition, Schalke are next Werder Bremen and Union Berlin are one of only three Bundesliga clubs with a woman on the executive board. Christina Rühl-Hamers was appointed to the Knappen board of directors in 2020 and was the first woman at board level of a first division club to be responsible for finance. Under the direction of the 46-year-olds, despite Corona and relegation, the club’s liabilities were reduced. Rühl-Hamers is the only woman in the management of the Royal Blues.
1. FC Union Berlin: Like FC Schalke, 1. FC Union Berlin is a registered club. The Irons currently have 49,152 members. Unlike S04, however, the Berliners employ eight managing directors. One of them is a woman: Anja Kasper has been responsible for the newly created Digitization division since October 2021. The 46-year-old graduate in business administration has many years of experience in managing digital projects at Daimler AG. She is the only woman in the management of the Köpenicker.
VfL Wolfsburg: VfL Wolfsburg (21,500 members) spun off its professional department into a GmbH in 2001. VfL Wolfsburg Fußball GmbH is a 100 percent subsidiary of Volkswagen AG. There has also been a woman on the supervisory board of the VW Club for almost a year and a half: Daniela Cavallo moved up to the Wolves’ control committee in October 2021. The 48-year-old has headed the general and group works council at Volkswagen since April 2021.
Seven Bundesliga clubs, including FC Bayern Munich, have no women on their executive boards
FC Bayern Munich: The professional soccer department of FC Bayern Munich has been relocated to a public company since 2002. The main shareholder of FC Bayern München AG is the registered club. With 295,000 members, FC Bayern Munich eV is the sports club with the most members in the world. The parent association holds 75 percent of the shares in the AG. The remaining shares (each 8.33 percent) are held by the long-standing FCB partners adidas AG, Audi AG and Allianz SE. There are no women working in the management level of FC Bayern.
Eintracht Frankfurt: Since 2000, Eintracht Frankfurt’s licensed players department has been spun off into a stock corporation. The registered association with a total of around 120,000 members holds 67.89 percent of the shares as the main shareholder. One looks in vain for a woman on both the board and the supervisory board of the reigning Europa League winner.
Borussia Monchengladbach: The professionals at Borussia Mönchengladbach have been outsourced to a GmbH since 2003. 100 percent of the shares are held by the parent association, which has 94,200 members. Even with the foals, there are no women in a management position.
TSG Hoffenheim: The soccer department of TSG Hoffenheim (11,000 members) was spun off into TSG 1899 Hoffenheim Fußball-Spielbetriebs GmbH in 2005. 96 percent of the shares are held by patron Dietmar Hopp, 4 percent by the parent club. There are no women in management at the Kraichgauer.
Three women in the club management: Werder Bremen, together with SC Freiburg, is a pioneer in the Bundesliga
Bayer 04 Leverkusen: Bayer 04 Leverkusen’s licensed player department has been outsourced to a GmbH and Bayer AG is its sole shareholder. There are no women in the top management of the Champions League participant.
1. FC Cologne: In 2002, 1. FC Köln created a GmbH & Co. KGaA for its licensed players department. 100 percent of the shares are held by the parent association, which has a total of 120,887 members. The Rhinelanders are also missing a woman in the club leadership.
FC Augsburg: The professional department of the Augsburg 1907 football club (21,730 members) has been housed in a GmbH & Co. KGaA since 2005. Hofmann Investors GmbH holds 99 percent of the shares. The Fuggerstadt team is one of the seven Bundesliga teams that currently have no women in management.
Summary: A total of 20 women hold management positions in the Bundesliga, 13 of whom sit on the supervisory board, four on the executive committee, and three on the management board or on the board of their respective clubs. the SV Werder Bremen is with three women in the club management together with SC Freiburg pioneers in this regard. Five clubs each have two women at the highest level, four clubs each have a woman in senior management and seven clubs have not yet had a woman on their board of directors or supervisory board. (mwi)
Note: The membership figures for the clubs are all from December 2022.
