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Yes or no? Kind doesn't give 96 management an answer either

Following the vote in favor of investors joining the DFL, second division club Hannover 96 is in the spotlight. How did managing director Martin Kind vote? And does the 50+1 rule still apply at the club?

Martin Kind, Managing Director of Hannover 96, stands in the hotel lobby before the start of the....aussiedlerbote.de
Martin Kind, Managing Director of Hannover 96, stands in the hotel lobby before the start of the DFL General Assembly at Frankfurt Airport. Photo.aussiedlerbote.de

Investors - Yes or no? Kind doesn't give 96 management an answer either

Professional soccer boss Martin Kind has not disclosed his much-discussed voting behavior in the German Football League (DFL) investor deal to parent club Hannover 96. This was confirmed by the managing director and majority shareholder of the hived-off professional company to the "Neue Presse" in Hanover (Thursday).

Kind said that the management of Hannover 96 e.V., which is dominated by Kind's opponents, had received the requested statement from him on Wednesday. However, the 79-year-old businessman kept to himself whether he had voted yes or no. "I answered that, it was a secret ballot - and I'm sticking to it," he said. That was "the rules of the game" of the DFL general meeting.

At its meeting on Monday, the governing body of the 36 German professional clubs approved the entry of a strategic partner with exactly the two-thirds majority required. The clubs voted 24 in favor, ten against and two abstentions.

And the fact that the twelve latter clubs publicly acknowledged their voting behavior at least allows the conclusion that Kind voted yes for the 96ers. He himself only told the Bild newspaper: "Nobody knows whether the clubs that are now saying they voted no really did so."

Kind's approval of the investor's entry would be piquant for two reasons: Firstly, the parent club had instructed the professional managing director to vote no. This is exactly what the e.V. is entitled to do according to the so-called 50+1 rule in German professional soccer. This rule stipulates that the parent club must retain the right to issue instructions and the majority of votes even if the professional division has been spun off into a corporation.

A "yes" vote by Kind against the instructions of the parent club would therefore also be a further indication that the 50+1 rule can no longer be enforced at Hannover 96. The e.V. management had already tried to remove Kind as professional managing director last year - and failed in two courts.

The management of the DFL only sees Kind's voting behavior as an internal problem for 96. However, the management of Hannover 96 e.V. accuses the DFL of not sufficiently ensuring that its own 50+1 rule still applies at the club. "Because this right to issue instructions was repeatedly not observed by Mr. Kind," a board member told the German Press Agency.

Homepage of the 2nd Bundesliga Homepage of Hannover 96

Read also:

  1. Despite being instructed to vote against, Martin Kind, the professional soccer boss of Hannover 96, may have approved the entry of a strategic partner in the German Football League (DFL) investor deal, as 12 other clubs publicly disclosed their voting behavior.
  2. The voting behavior of Kind, the managing director and majority shareholder of Hannover 96's professional company, has become a topic of discussion, as he refused to reveal whether he voted 'yes' or 'no' in the DFL general meeting, citing the secrecy of the ballot.
  3. The approval of the investor's entry by Kind could potentially challenge the enforcement of the 50+1 rule at Hannover 96, a rule that gives the parent club the right to issue instructions and maintain a majority of votes, even if the professional division has been spun off into a corporation.
  4. The entry of a strategic partner into the German professional soccer clubs was approved by the DFL governing body on Monday with a two-thirds majority, with 24 votes in favor, ten against, and two abstentions. Hannover 96 is one of the clubs that could be affected by this decision due to the voting behavior of its professional managing director, Martin Kind.

Source: www.stern.de

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