DThe time has been running since Monday evening. “Opponents” in the prominent private duel at Eintracht Frankfurt are: club president Peter Fischer, who used to play basketball, and the current Eintracht professional Makoto Hasebe, he will be 39 in January. “Does your time as President end first or Hasebe’s? That is the crucial question.” With these humorous words, Axel Hellmann, spokesman for the board of Eintracht Frankfurt Fußball AG, addressed the splendidly amused audience at the general meeting, who reacted with great laughter. Hasebe, who is indispensable again in the professional team as the chief organizer of the defense, has extended his contract by twelve months in each of the past few years. And fishermen? After his re-election, the 66-year-old will remain head of the club for the next four years and will be entering his eighth term. The race for retirement has been open since Monday evening.
Of the 625 members entitled to vote, 79.85 percent (420 yes votes and 106 no votes) were in favor of a further term of office for Fischer. However, the 99 abstentions were not taken into account in the almost 80 percent officially announced by Eintracht, otherwise it would have been only 67.2 percent approval for Fischer. In 2018 he still had 99 percent of the yes votes. A touch of the twilight of the gods. Nevertheless, after the meeting ended after more than five hours in the Wolfgang-Steubing-Halle in Riederwald, he said: “That’s a damn good result. I can absolutely live with that. I expected a little less.”
The members had spoken out in favor of a secret ballot and voted against a vote by show of hands – which will also have contributed to the fact that the result was poor by Fischer standards. The President had already learned from the Ultras in a personal conversation that there would be dissenting votes and abstentions. They were not satisfied with Fischer’s statements. However, Eintracht insiders did not see a campaign against Fischer. Other Eintracht Frankfurt supporters, on the other hand, were annoyed that violent Frankfurt ultras and hooligans had gotten tickets for the Champions League game in Marseille. Many “normal fans”, on the other hand, were left empty-handed, and they are now questioning the fact that Ultras are given preferential treatment when it comes to the allocation of tickets.
The processing of the events in Marseille – there had been violent riots by the spectators – was “not over”, announced Fischer. “Marseille was like civil war. It was nothing but hate. Our fans have been chased through the city, we have one seriously injured, our corner has been constantly shot at,” said the president. But there was also “misconduct” “on our part”. “There are thick red borders: Pyro out of hand, space storm – we have to sanction that and cannot accept it,” emphasized the President.
The fifth largest club in the Bundesliga
Fischer has headed the club since 2000. In this long time he had only one opponent: Reiner Schäfer 2015. Shortly before the election, he withdrew his candidacy because of the lack of prospects. Under President Fischer, the number of members grew rapidly to 115,112 today. After Bayern, Schalke, Dortmund and Cologne, Eintracht is now the fifth largest club in the Bundesliga. “Dear people from Cologne! You have 5000 or 6000 more members than us. But we’ll get you, dress warmly,” trumpeted the President. From his point of view, the number of Frankfurt members symbolizes “the absolute radiance that we achieve in Germany and Europe. Our sports policy voice is being heard more and more clearly.”
