"The moment has come": Hertha President Gegenbauer resigns

Created: 05/24/2022Updated: 05/24/2022 18:59

Werner Gegenbauer, President of Hertha BSC.

© Jörg Carstensen/dpa/archive image

The step was expected after the successful sporting rescue.

Werner Gegenbauer resigned from his position as President of Hertha BSC before the general meeting on Sunday.

Berlin – Werner Gegenbauer has resigned as President of the Bundesliga soccer club Hertha BSC.

“Hertha BSC has a good foundation.

But there are moments for new beginnings.

And I think and feel that such a moment has come today.

With my decision, I want to make a fresh start for the future of Hertha BSC," wrote the 71-year-old on Tuesday on the club's website, one day after the 2-0 win in the relegation second leg at Hamburger SV, with which Hertha team managed to stay up.

In Berlin, a withdrawal of the criticized Gegenbauer had been expected for a long time before the general meeting on Sunday.

With his withdrawal, the entrepreneur anticipates a possible deselection.

Gegenbauer has led Hertha since 2008, and his term of office was scheduled to run until 2024.

But in the last re-election in October 2020, Gegenbauer had only received 54 percent of the votes without a candidate.

Several weeks ago, million-dollar investor Lars Windhorst caused a sensation with massive criticism of Gegenbauer and his club policy.

The financial expert had accused Gegenbauer of wasting his investment of 375 million euros.

The lender directly called for Gegenbauer to be voted out.

Gegenbauer denies that this quarrel led to his premature departure: “I would like to make it absolutely clear that the current disagreements with our investor played no role in my decision.

This dispute has never been a personal one.

It is a controversy between Hertha BSC and Tennor Holding.” dpa