As a lawyer, Reinhard Rauball wrote comments on the Basic Law, he was NRW Minister of Justice for a week and represented Katrin Krabbe and Graciano Rocchigiani. But his masterpiece was saving Borussia Dortmund over 16 years ago. The BVB President and long-time head of the League Association will be 75 on Christmas Day.
The dramatic hours of March 14, 2005 will not be forgotten. Rauball and Hans-Joachim Watzke faced the angry creditors of the Molsiris Stadium Fund in Düsseldorf, it was all or nothing. In the end, 94 percent of those present approved the redevelopment plan.
“To call the result of the vote a miracle would be a touch too high,” said Rauball later, but: “The dichotomy in which many were stuck between total loss and the prospect of saving at least some of the capital invested helped us a lot. ” The “clear growling in the hall” ceased – also because Rauball and Watzke had not brought BVB to the brink of ruin themselves.
Rauball has been President of his Borussia for the third time since 2004, the last time he was re-elected for three years in 2019 without a dissenting vote. He heads the club calmly and seriously, quite calmly – just like his doctorate from 1972 reads. The theme: “The parish districts, district committees and town councilors.” Watzke, Michael Zorc and Sebastian Kehl take care of the sporty things in Dortmund.
BVB, said Rauball confidently about the situation in the corona pandemic, will “master every crisis”. He speaks from experience.
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