Tuesday, October 12, 2021
“Illness in the immediate environment”
Hertha quickly dissolves the contract with the club boss
After only ten months, the term of office of club boss Carsten Schmidt at Hertha BSC is over again. However, this is not due to the difficult situation at the Bundesliga soccer club, but rather to “exclusively indissoluble private reasons”, as the club reports.
The departure of the club boss Carsten Schmidt, who was brought in as a reformer, is causing renewed unrest at Hertha BSC and slowing down the development of the crisis-ridden “Big City Club”. The managing director will leave the Berlin Bundesliga club after less than a year. A few minutes before the planned start of training, the “Tagesspiegel” first reported about it. About two hours later, the capital club confirmed the change in an official announcement.
“There are only indissoluble private reasons due to illness in my immediate family environment that prompted me to take this step,” Schmidt was quoted as saying. “Working for Hertha BSC has always given me great pleasure.”
And yet it can’t go on for the 58-year-old. From now on, the two managing directors Fredi Bobic and Ingo Schiller will take over the responsibilities. “It was with regret that we received Mr. Schmidt’s request to terminate his service contract immediately for purely private reasons,” said Hertha’s club president Werner Gegenbauer.
Schmidt only took up his position at Hertha on December 1, 2020. Before that, the manager worked for four years as head of the TV broadcaster Sky in Munich. Schmidt had come to the Spree as a new strong man, began his work at the side of the then sports director Michael Preetz and financial director Schiller. Schmidt was responsible for leading the trio. As CEO he was the head of the operational business of the association. Now the management has to be restructured again after turbulent months.
Investor Lars Windhorst, under whose influence the structure around Schmidt was created, “deeply” regretted the unexpected departure, as the entrepreneur tweeted: “He had big plans, as I know …” Windhorst and Schmidt spoke on the phone and were “dismayed.” that things were brought to the public in advance that were confidential, “emphasized Windhorst. Not for the first time the club had been surprised by media reports about internal matters. Schmidt should actually ensure that the badly battered appearance of the capital city dwellers a little more positive.