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Ovations for Wolfgang Paul – controversial but fair discussions
At the beginning of the meeting, president Dr. Reinhold Lunow recalled the departed Gerd Pieper (former deputy of the president), Heinz Keppmann (long-time head of the amateur department) and Olaf Suplicki (co-founder and first chairman of the fan relations department), who passed away in 2024, and stressed: "Your legacy will always remain a part of our club."
Those of the now 218,493 members of the fifth largest sports club in the world present at the meeting appointed Dr. Christian Hockenjos as an honorary member and Wolfgang Paul as honorary captain. The 84-year-old was honoured with a minute of applause for his outstanding sporting achievements.
Hans-Joachim Watzke, chairman of the board of management, described the economic situation of the partnership limited by shares, confirming the KGaA finished the previous financial year with a profit after tax of €44.3 million and has no operating liabilities, except for three long-term financed investment projects in the real estate sector (including the training centre for women's football and the primary kitchen in Signal Iduna Park). "We are economically more stable than most clubs."
On the subject of "Rheinmetall" he said: "It was a decision that involved a balancing act between economic aspects and social sustainability. The committees voted unanimously in favour of it. But I have respect for everyone who sees it differently." Not even one percent (1205) of the club members were present on Sunday in Hall 3 of the Westfalenhalle. "Our club has become so big," Watzke stressed: "Not only do we have to put up different opinions, but they are inevitable when you reach such a size."
"Our strength has always been solidarity"
Hans-Joachim Watzke called for patience and trust, focusing in particular on the sense of entitlement in sport, and faux pas on social networks. "What has actually happened in the past one or two years?" he asked. "We almost won the league last year, we are just coming out of a Champions League final, we are second in the historical table of the Bundesliga by a large margin, we are currently seventh in Europe, surrounded by nothing but major global cities. We have been writing a success story on the pitch and in the economic figures for 20 years – but it seems to me that hardly anyone is proud of that anymore. Performance can only spring from the foundations of patience. Our strength has always been solidarity!"
Lars Ricken spoke about the situation on the pitch. "We are being frustrated on the road. We will have to find solutions for that," stressed the sporting director. But he stressed: "We trust our team, we trust our coach. This is a path that we want to take. And my wish is to go down that path together with Sebastian Kehl. We want to build something with people who identify with BVB 100 percent." Players from our own youth system or U23s are not only to be led into the Bundesliga – five of them were on the pitch in Frankfurt against Bremen – but into our own first team. Five Dortmund boys have made their professional debut this season.
The reports from around the various departments are summarised in a separate text.
29,000 new members in a year
Treasurer Bernd Möllmann highlighted the growth of 29,000 members ("That is a record") within one year, presenting a surplus of €2.9 million (previous year: a deficit of €951,000) with a total output of €14.29 million. The assets of the club increased by €2.9 million to €17 million. Möllmann was re-elected after the end of his three-year term with a few abstentions..
The economic council is composed of eight members: Dr. Volker Gruhn, Reinhold Schulte, Bodo Löttgen and Thomas Westphal were appointed by the board of directors, and Oliver Hermes, Dr. Thomas Steg, Michele Puller and Dr. Winfried Materna were elected by the general meeting of shareholders. The actions of the auditors Roman Weidenfeller and Gerd Kolbe were unanimously approved, as were the actions of entire board, with a few abstentions. After three years, Weidenfeller was not allowed to be re-elected, and he is replaced by another former title-winner: Marcel Schmelzer.
Discussions about "Rheinmetall"
After four and a half hours, President Dr. Reinhold Lunow came to item eleven on the agenda: motions and requests. BVB member Dr. Wilfried Harthan demanded: "The general meeting of shareholders disapproves of the advertising deal with Rheinmetall and believes that the sponsorship contract should be terminated as soon as possible. Under no circumstances should it be extended beyond the end of its term (2027)." A further two similar motions were brought by members.
Managing director Carsten Cramer was "appreciative of the way in which the debate took place," and stressed that he had respect for every opinion on the subject. He also gave his own personal insights: "The only area we can grow is sponsorship. We have red lines there. We have rejected funds from Russia or those that we believe contradict Borussia Dortmund's CSR criteria." Specifically with regard to Rheinmetall, he said: "When you've got the prospect of getting this amount, you have to think about it. Then we started the internal discussions. The changing times brought to our attention what happened there. We need to raise awareness of our security and democracy."
Majority in favour of three motions
In the months following the announcement of the partnership, 195 members resigned from the club, but this was offset by a five-figure number of new members joining in the same period. "Market research shows that Borussia Dortmund did not suffer any damage to its reputation as a result of this deal," said Cramer, who also stressed: "Of course, this should not counteract the feeling of each individual member." Watzke stepped in to act as an intermediary, stating that in 2025, the opinion of all 218,000 club members should be queried via a digital vote.
In the end, Harthan's motion was voted on in secret ballot. 855 of the 1205 members still present cast their ballot papers: 556 voted "Yes", 247 "no" with 52 abstentions. Dr. Markus Schäfer's motion (372 "Yes", 289 "No") was also passed, but not that of Frank Beyer (309 "Yes", 395 "No").
In a joint motion, several members advocated that parties and their representatives who contradict the Code of Fundamental Values should not have a place with Borussia Dortmund and received clear approval.
Boris Rupert