She will be the first woman to lead a club in German professional football: Tatjana Haenni will take over management at RB Leipzig and fill the gap left by her predecessor Oliver Mintzlaff in autumn 2022.
A novelty in German professional football: Tatjana Haenni is the first woman to take over the reins at a Bundesliga club. The 59-year-old will become CEO, the top managing director at RB Leipzig. As the club announced on Wednesday (December 10th), Haenni will take over her job from January 1st, 2026. The former Swiss national player will head the RB management with her deputy Johann Plenge (Business), Florian Hopp (Administration) and Marcel Schäfer (Sport).
End of a three-year search
“We are extremely pleased that we were able to gain Tatjana Haenni, a strong leader, as CEO for RB Leipzig. She impressed us and the committees in the discussions with her expertise and with the combination of specialist knowledge, leadership and strategic thinking,” Oliver Mintzlaff, RB supervisory board chairman, was quoted as saying in a statement. The 50-year-old held the CEO position until November 2022. Since then, this position has been vacant at RB Leipzig.
Red Bull managing director and RBL supervisory board chairman Oliver Mintzlaff was looking for a new CEO for RB Leipzig for three years.
Haenni most recently played in the National Women’s Soccer League
Tatjana Haenni wore the Swiss national team jersey 24 times during her active time as a footballer. From 1999 to 2017 she worked at FIFA as a manager and department head for women’s football, and also worked for two years at the Swiss Football Association as director of women’s football. In 2023, she joined the American professional soccer league “National Women’s Soccer League” in the management team. Now the step to Leipzig follows.
“The discussions with those responsible were characterized by a trusting and appreciative atmosphere and I am convinced that with strong teamwork and a focus on the strengths of RB Leipzig we can still exploit a lot of potential,” said Haenni.
