Axel Hefer: New board member for sport needs to be a team player and an expert

The supervisory board of FC Gelsenkirchen-Schalke 04 e.V. has decided to appoint a new board member for sport in line with the club’s current strategy. “Following the departure of sporting director Marc Wilmots, the supervisory board has made the decision to fill the position on the board in order to provide clearer delineation regarding tasks involving the club’s sporting directives. The search committee was set up prior to the AGM and is working in collaboration with Matthias Tillmann to find the right person,” explained chairman of the supervisory board Axel Hefer.

The decision-making process will consist of two stages, first determining the structure of the role before then filling the resulting vacant position as Hefer explained. “The decision to appoint a board member for sport is made with the desire for an alternate structure in mind rather than based on personnel. As CEO, Matthias Tillmann has overall responsibility for all issues to do with strategy and decisions impacting the club’s direction, meaning the board member for sport can focus entirely on football.”

The two remaining games before the turn of the year against Fortuna Düsseldorf and SV Elversberg mark the conclusion of a challenging first half of the season for Schalke 04. The supervisory board and the board members had to make important personnel decisions in line with the needs of the current situation involving unfamiliar developments. “Youri Mulder took over the role of interim director of professional football and is doing a very good job. He will work continue until the end of the season to provide stability and ensure smooth transition to the new board. This means that the process of searching for the right person is not rushed,” emphasised Hefer. “Ben Manga and Youri Mulder have been planning the transfer window together with the board for several weeks now, and we have every confidence in their collaboration. We will aim to strengthen if the market allows us to do so.”

In recent weeks, the supervisory board has worked intensively on developing the structure that the club needs. The search committee has now outlined the requirements for the board member for sport role in order to carry out the search in the most successful way possible. There is exact date for a decision to be made. “We will take the necessary time in order to find the best person for the role,” stated chairman of the supervisory board Hefer before explaining what a desired in a candidate. “We are looking for a team player and an expert in their field with a wide range of footballing expertise to join Schalke 04, someone who brings both an operational and strategic sporting understanding and has a successful track record in this regard. It is important that they can bring people together in order to successfully utilise the quality that we already have at Schalke.”