Bayern have taken another important step toward what everyone at the club hopes will be a continuing success story in the future. Germany's biggest club announced on Thursday that BayernLB (Bavarian State Bank) chairman Jan-Christian Dreesen is to succeed Karl Hopfner on the FC Bayern München AG executive board. “Jan-Christian Dreesen has considerable experience in finance and will take over Karl Hopfner's extensive responsibilities from the start of next year. He'll have plenty of work to do," Uli Hoeneß told FCB.tv after the appointment was officially announced.
Hopfner, once described by Karl-Heinz Rummenigge as “Bayern's good conscience," is responsible for the club’s finances and accounting, ticketing and membership service, internal services, legal affairs, human resources and representing the company in its external holdings and investments. A few weeks ago, the 60-year-old announced his intention to step down as a board director at the end of the 2012 after almost 30 years at the club. The search for a successor had been “a very difficult decision," Hoeneß revealed.
Lengthy discussions
“It's not the kind of decision you take in just four weeks. It's been going to and fro for three or four months," the club president continued. Hoeneß himself left the board three years ago, and the ongoing management restructuring is “an absolute priority for me and my colleagues on the supervisory board. For this reason, I'm delighted we have, in my opinion, found the right man."
Dreesen, born in the East Friesian town of Aurich in 1967, has been based in Munich for many years. After completing an apprenticeship in banking and studies in business administration, he began his career with Bayerische Vereinsbank, later to become the HypoVereinsbank of today. Dreesen was chiefly responsible for private customers and mid-sized business clients. After a three-year spell with UBS Deutschland, he became chairman of BayernLB in September 2009, overseeing a restructuring in the wake of the financial crisis.
Hopfner to stand for vice-president
Dreesen will take up his new position with Bayern at the start of 2013. Hoeneß expressed satisfaction with the immediate situation at the club after securing the succession to Hopfner, “along with the Oktoberfest, the team's fantastic form, the situation in the table, and peace and harmony at the club. Naturally, that's great stuff for a president," he beamed.
Hoeneß also described himself as “very happy" with the fact Hopfner will in all likelihood retain his association with the club into the future. “He's willing to stand for election as vice-president for finance at the November AGM," the FCB president revealed, “that would automatically make him a member of the supervisory board, where he can continue to influence the future fortunes of Bayern Munich. I very much hope we'll all be elected at the meeting."
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