Reinhard Rauball will no longer run for president of Borussia Dortmund. The BVB made the announcement on Tuesday.
President Reinhard Rauball of Bundesliga football club Borussia Dortmund is drawing a line in the sand. The 75-year-old will not run again in November after a total of 23 years in office. The BVB made the announcement on Tuesday after Rauball informed the election committee chairman Winfried Materna. Rauball will propose his current deputy Reinhold Lunow as his successor.
“I have been proud to be President of this great club every minute of my tenure. For 23 years, I have filled this office with a lot of heart and soul,” said Rauball. He added that Borussia Dortmund had always been a defining part of his life, still is and always will be: “It fills me with great joy that I have had the honour of serving my Borussia, which has such a deep impact on society, as president three times and of helping to lead it out of difficult situations. “
Our President has rendered outstanding services to BVB. All Borussians owe him a great debt of gratitude for this.
Hans-Joachim Watzke about Reinhard Rauball
Rauball was elected to the office of BVB President for the third time in 2004. During his first term of office from 1979 to 1982, the then 32-year-old lawyer went down in history as the youngest president of a Bundesliga football club; his second term of office between 1984 and 1986 was marked by an economic crisis at BVB, which was successfully overcome not least thanks to Rauball.
“Our president has rendered outstanding services to BVB. All Borussians owe him a great debt of gratitude for this,” said Managing Director Hans-Joachim Watzke: “His willingness to make himself available again for the office of President in 2004, during our club’s most existential crisis, formed the foundation for everything that has followed and developed at BVB to this day.”
During Rauball’s third term as president, Borussia Dortmund won two championships, lifted the DFB Cup three times and reached the final of the Champions League in 2013.