General meeting: Tönnies and Stevens waive Schalke’s honorary presidency

The former chairman of the supervisory board Clemens Tonnies (70) and former coach Huub Stevens (72) have renounced their election to the honorary board of FC Schalke 04. At the general meeting of the newcomer to the Bundesliga in the Veltins Arena it was announced that both were unavailable.

The reason for this was apparently that a simultaneous application to change the association’s statutes had the aim of preventing members of the honorary committee from publicly commenting on operational business in the future. However, the members refused to agree to this change in the statutes; with a good 60 percent, the two-thirds majority was missed.

No right to freedom of expression

Participation in this important body cannot be an option given the limited right to freedom of expression, Tönnies and Stevens According to media reports, written in a letter to the club. Of the 4,902 members entitled to vote, former Supervisory Board member Peter Lange was ultimately elected.

Tönnies was Schalke’s chairman of the supervisory board from 2001 to 2020. The fans voted Stevens Schalke’s “coach of the century” in 1999.

© dpa-infocom, dpa:260718-930-404961/1