On June 17, FC Schalke 04 will hold its general meeting. A fan wanted to vote there on a spin-off of the professional players department.

FC Schalke 04 sent its members the invitation to the general meeting on June 17 through a notice on the homepage. At the same time, there was also an overview of motions that had been admitted and those that had not been admitted to the vote.

One of them was particularly explosive. For Schalke member Manfred Nentwich submitted a voting motion with the topic of spin-off. “The mountain of debt of over 180 million euros can only be solved with a spin-off, with player transfer fees and a gripping concept. Reducing player salaries does not increase the debt level, but also does not achieve a noticeable reduction in debt,” was the fan’s reasoning. He referred to the concept of a partnership limited by shares, which had allegedly already been worked out by Clemens Tönnies with the board of management at the time before his resignation as head of the supervisory board. There would be no other way ,Schalke to return to old greatness.

However, the supervisory board rejected the application due to formal errors. For the spin-off of the professional players’ department, a general meeting convened specifically for this purpose would be required. In addition, the legal form applied for was not clear from the application.

Schalke: Nentwich wanted to have Tönnies appointed honorary member

Manfred Nentwich already caused unrest in the run-up to the last general meeting because he wanted to have Tönnies declared an honorary member by the members because of his services to the club. “We owe Clemens Tönnies the Veltins Arena, the Knappenschmiede and the entire Berger Feld, to name a few, with his support and commitment,” Nentwich wrote at the time. There was a storm of indignation, as Tönnies had been more than controversial of late. At the request of Tönnies himself, Nentwich then withdrew the motion before the meeting.

However, the topic of spin-offs was not completely removed from the table at the general meeting. A motion by Karl Kinne and Markus Rohmann was approved, which would mandate the Executive Board to conduct a member survey by vote of the General Meeting in order to enable an opening to a new shareholder structure. The exact question to be asked is to be determined by the Supervisory Board.