For the first time in the history of professional football in Germany, a woman has taken over the management of a club. And not just any club, but the second in the Bundesliga standings - RB Leipzig, Topsport reported.
According to information from BILD, 59-year-old Tatiana Haeni will be the CEO of the "Red Bulls".
The club, under the leadership of the chairman of the supervisory board Oliver Mintzlaff, who held the same position until November 2022, continues with large-scale changes. For three years, the Red Bull boss has been looking for the most suitable candidate for the position. And she found it in the US in the person of Swiss-born Haeni.
Her name may not be familiar to many fans, but she is a well-known figure in football circles. On Wednesday, Mintzlaff officially announced the appointment to all RB Leipzig employees during an internal meeting.
Tatiana Haeni has an impressive business card. She is a former professional footballer with 23 caps for the Swiss national team. After the end of her playing career, she became the first UEFA employee to deal exclusively with women's football. Her professional career includes 18 years as head of the women's football department at world football headquarters FIFA, 2 years as director of women's football at the Swiss Football Association. Since January 2023, she has been working in New York as the sporting director of the American Women's Professional Soccer League (NWSL).
She is expected to officially take office on January 1.
There have been female club presidents in the First and Second Bundesliga in the past. For example, Nicole Kumpis has been president of Eintracht Braunschweig since 2022, and Liselotte Knecht was at the helm of 1860 Munich between 1988 and 1992. However, Haeni is the first woman to lead the day-to-day operations of a Bundesliga club.
Her appointment will lead to changes in the current management of RB Leipzig. Johann Plenge (40) will take over as deputy managing director. At the top, however, will be Haeni, who is valued as a team player and is expected to lead the current team.