The dispute between Martin Kind and the management of the parent club of second division soccer team Hannover 96 is going to the highest court in civil and criminal proceedings.
Almost two years after the entrepreneur was unsuccessfully dismissed as managing director of the outsourced professional football division, the Federal Court of Justice (BGH) wants to deal with this. The second civil senate in Karlsruhe has scheduled an oral hearing for June 4, 2024. It is not yet clear when he will make a verdict.
The 79-year-old Kind is the managing director and majority shareholder of the professional football sector. However, the 50+1 rule in German professional football is intended to ensure that the parent club and not the capital side has the majority of votes in the professional football society in the event of such a spin-off.
50+1 rule
The 50+1 rule states that the majority of voting shares in a spun-off professional division of a club must always be in the hands of the parent club determined by members. The influence of investors is therefore limited. An exception applies to Bayer 04 Leverkusen and VfL Wolfsburg. These exceptions were justified with “uninterrupted and significant support over at least 20 years”.
In order to enforce this principle, the managing director at Hannover 96 is located in Management GmbH. This does not belong to the capital side around Martin Kind, but 100 percent to the parent club. With reference to this, the management of the eV removed Kind as managing director of the GmbH in July 2022.
Both sides have been at odds for years. However, Kind has already successfully defended himself against his dismissal in two proceedings because the club and the capital concluded the so-called Hannover 96 contract in 2019, which regulates their relationship.
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It says: The Articles of Association of Management GmbH can only be changed and a managing director can only be removed if the Supervisory Board of Management GmbH agrees to this. That committee has two voting members each from the association and the capital side.
Years of litigation
The Hanover regional court had declared Kind’s dismissal in 2022 null and void. And the Celle Higher Regional Court also rejected an appeal six months later. The decision is void because it is incompatible with the nature of the GmbH. The BGH explained in a statement on Wednesday (March 13, 2024) that it was not taken by the defendant’s supervisory board and was therefore in violation of its authority, which, under the special circumstances of the dispute, would result in the decision being null and void. The Hanover 96 Treaty was also violated. Furthermore, the dismissal decision was immoral and therefore also void.