Termination by e-mail, mockery online, loss of trust in the management committee: At Karlsruher SC, the separation from managing director Kreuzer threatens to reopen old rifts despite the sporting success.
Despite his Dismissal as sports manager Oliver Kreuzer appeared on the premises of the second division football club Karlsruher SC to do his work. The 57-year-old drove up in his car on Monday morning. A little later, according to dpa information, he was informed by the chairman of the advisory board, Holger Siegmund-Schultze, about the formal step of the exemption. The club later confirmed this in a statement. At 12:00 p.m. sharp, Kreuzer left the wildlife park with several crates.
The KSC, which had extended the contract with Kreuzer just eight months ago, had announced its dismissal on Saturday evening. As a reason for the decision, the KSC called, among other things, that the club’s income from TV money and transfer income has been far below the average of the 2nd Bundesliga for a long time. The goals of the strategic reorientation should be to permanently increase the value of the squad and the probability of sporting success. The corresponding tasks should be distributed internally until the personnel in the sports area is reorganized, the club said.
Events roll over on Saturday
Oliver Kreuzer first found out about his dismissal as sporting director of Karlsruher SC on Saturday in the car. On Saturday afternoon he was on his way to a game in the Netherlands with assistant coach Zlatan Bajramovic when Vice President Martin Müller called him to tell him that the letter of termination had been received.
“I’m shocked,” said the 57-year-old of the German Press Agency. The 1-1 draw in the 2nd Bundesliga against promoted team Eintracht Braunschweig a few hours earlier was pushed into the background by the surprising decision of the club’s advisory board.
Followers hold message for April Fool’s joke
Quite a few supporters of the traditional North Baden club took the news for an April Fool’s joke and let their emotions run free on the Internet because of the unusual timing. As a result, the club felt compelled to add a note to the published contribution a few minutes later. “This is not an April Fool’s joke,” read the information that was added. Müller and Günter Pilarsky, who is also vice-president of the club, were apparently also surprised by the application made by the five-member advisory board.
“The advisory board meeting had been convened with the topic of the budget. And out of nowhere it was said that I would now put to the vote whether we recall Oliver Kreuzer,” reported Müller, who said he had voted against the motion. Pilarsky is also said to have been against Kreuzer’s dismissal. President Holger Siegmund-Schultze, on the other hand, complained that in three key areas of income that are directly linked to the sport, they are well below the league average.
Kreuzer’s concept did not have a majority
“And there are reasons for that,” said the real estate developer, who doesn’t want to look back at all. “It was important to us that we have a strategy and a concept with the new stadium in the first season to at least generate average income,” he said. And that’s where Kreuzer’s concept no longer convinced the majority, according to Siegmund-Schultze.
“If we make a structural loss in the new stadium, which is then repeated over and over again, that is basically not tolerable for the business model,” said the club boss. Mueller sees it differently. He contacted the supervisory board about the termination of the contract. “We’re burning 600,000 euros with this great move. We’re not Bayern Munich, where that’s a rounding difference. For us, that’s a lot of money,” he said. He imagines working with the advisory board, especially with Siegmund-Schultze, to be “a bit more complicated” in the future.
“Because that’s an abuse of trust that he initiated there,” said Müller. It is not yet clear who will follow Kreuzer. The successor, which is to be presented as soon as possible, is intended to generate the urgently needed additional income.
