2. Bundesliga - Martin Kind's son decides on the new Hannover-boss
After the dismissal of long-term Professional football boss Martin Kind, his son Matthias Kind will play a decisive role in the search for a new business manager for the Second League team Hannover 96. The 80-year-old hearing aid businessman had already transferred his majority shares in the Professional football company to his second son in the past few months. Therefore, the 48-year-old music manager Matthias Kind now also belongs to the supervisory board of Hannover 96 Management GmbH as one of the two representatives of the capital side.
"It is now necessary to find a new business manager as soon as possible. We are conducting talks, which are going well", said the lawyer Ralf Nestler, who represents the mother club in the control committee.
Stalled in the supervisory board
The Management GmbH has a key role in the complex structure of Hannover 96. The Professional football department was spun off into the Hannover 96 GmbH & Co. KGaA in 1999, whose shares the Hannover 96 Sales & Service GmbH & Co. KG holds. The shareholders and thus the capital side of the club are Matthias Kind, the drugstore entrepreneur Dirk Roßmann, and the real estate entrepreneur Gregor Baum.
The 50+1-Rule in German Professional football is intended to ensure that the mother club always has the majority of shares in the corporation. Therefore, the business manager of the Hannover 96 GmbH & Co. KGaA is determined by the Management GmbH, which in turn belongs to 100% of Hannover 96 e.V.
What makes the situation in Hannover even more complicated is the so-called Hannover-96 Contract, on which the disputing club and capital sides have agreed. According to this contract, a new business manager can only be appointed if the two representatives of the mother club and the two representatives of the KGaA in the supervisory board of the Management GmbH agree on a candidate. This contradicts the basic principle of the 50+1-Rule. Neither the German Football League (DFL) nor the Federal Administrative Court (BGH) have criticized this in their judgment on the dismissal of Martin Kind.
Sport director Mann on the rise
The club and capital sides are now under pressure to agree on a new business manager without Martin Kind. In the six weeks between the BGH proceedings and the BGH judgment on Tuesday, this was not achieved. It is likely that the current sport director Marcus Mann will be promoted to sport business manager and a second financial business manager will still be sought. If there is no agreement, the District Court would have to appoint a provisional business manager.
The fan association "Our Curve" has welcomed the dismissal of Martin Kind and seen it as a strengthening of the 50+1-Rule in German football. The BGH has clarified that one cannot buy influence in Professional football without further ado. "Instead, the democratic character of the club was undermined", said the chairman Jost Peter.
- The search for a new business manager in Hannover 96, a team from the Second Bundesliga, is being led by Matthias Kind, following the dismissal of his father Martin Kind, who had previously transferred his majority shares to Matthias.
- Hannover 96, a football club based in Hannover, Germany, has a complex structure with key roles played by Hanover 96 Management GmbH and Hannover 96 GmbH & Co. KGaA.
- The dispute over the appointment of a new business manager in Hannover 96 is further complicated by the Hannover-96 Contract, which requires agreement between representatives of both the mother club and the KGaA in the Management GmbH supervisory board.
- The fan association "Our Curve" has supported the dismissal of Martin Kind, viewing it as a strengthening of the 50+1-Rule in German football, which aims to ensure the majority of shares remain with the mother club.
- If the club and capital sides cannot agree on a new business manager in Hannover 96, a provisional business manager may be appointed by the District Court.
- The current sport director Marcus Mann is likely to be promoted to sport business manager in Hannover 96, with a second financial business manager still sought to complement his role.
