No resignation from resignation
BVB boss stands behind Lars Ricken
11.02.2025 – 9:35 a.m.Reading time: 2 min.
BVB boss Hans-Joachim Watzke speaks openly about the sporting crisis and the difficult first year for sports managing director Lars. Despite the problems, he remains convinced: the club is stable.
Hans-Joachim Watzke had imagined the first year for Lars Ricken as a sports director of Borussia Dortmund differently. According to the “Frankfurter Rundschau”, the BVB boss spoke openly about the difficult situation in front of business representatives in Frankfurt. “I thought it was a good time for Lars, since now to be derived. I hadn’t thought that we slide into such a crisis scenario,” said Watzke.
Despite the tense sporting situation, the 65-year-old emphasized his confidence in Ricken’s skills. “It is of course a completely different challenge, but he can do it without any ifs and buts,” said Watzke. Before the Dortmund Champions League-Play-Off at Sporting Lisbon on Tuesday evening (from 9:00 p.m., Prime Video and in LiveTicker at T-Online), the club boss was convinced that the former international will master the current crisis.
For Watzke himself, it is clear: his announced withdrawal at the end of the year remains – despite the difficult circumstances. “Sometimes I wondered if the decision was right. But I totally and completely and completely exclude a resignation from the resignation,” he said.
Watzke no longer wants to interfere in the daily sporting decisions. “I hold back with advice,” he emphasized. “Advice are also strokes.” Nevertheless, Ricken was “hit with full force” through the developments and must now find his own way to cope with the problems.
After all, Watzke sees a certain security in the economic stability of the association – regardless of the sporting performance. Borussia Dortmund is “condemned to the permanent over-perfect” in order to meet your own demands, but even without the Champions League qualification, the club is on a solid foundation. “If we can’t do this, we have a problem. But BVB is also bombarded without participation in the Champions League,” emphasized Watzke.