Gerhard Schröder
He leaves hometown club Hannover 96
Gerhard Schröder has lost honorary memberships in German football.
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Gerhard Schröder is no longer a member of Hannover 96. The board announced that the former chancellor had announced his resignation.
Ex-Chancellor Gerhard Schröder (78, SPD) has resigned from his home club Hannover 96. That was given by the board of directors of the football club according to the “Bild” newspaper announced this Thursday (April 7th). The club had previously considered expulsion from the club and asked Schröder for a short-term statement and self-assessment as to “whether his own values are still in line with the values of the club,” said a statement from early March.
The reason for the examination of the exclusion are “the values of Mr. Schröder, which in the opinion of the board of directors obviously contradict the values of the association, in connection with his public statements on the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine, his current work at the Russian group Rosneft and the desired work at the likewise Russian concern Gazprom”.
Schröder, who is considered a long-time friend of Russian President Vladimir Putin (69), has now responded by resigning. From December 2016 to June 2019, the former chancellor was chairman of the supervisory board of the football club’s operating company.
Honorary memberships revoked
Borussia Dortmund had already withdrawn Schröder’s honorary membership at the beginning of March. In a message was explained: “The assumption of management positions in Russian state-owned companies by a BVB honorary member is not acceptable against the background of the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine and the associated serious violation of applicable international law.”
The German Football Association (DFB) followed suit a little later announced on March 11: “Gerhard Schröder is no longer an honorary member of the German Football Association. Anyone who, out of consideration for personal interests, does not clearly distance themselves from the war and its aggressor and, moreover, does not take the necessary business consequences, does not share the values of football and German football -Covenant.” Schröder was made an honorary member of the DFB by the DFB Bundestag in December 2005 in Leipzig.