TSG Hoffenheim advance GmbH development

Schütz has worked for TSG since 2006. As a lawyer, he has advised and represented the club and the GmbH in legal matters (including in the so-called "Doping Test Affair" in 2007, the "Ghost Goal" proceedings in 2013 and, most recently, in the Cartel Office proceedings to evaluate the "50+1" rule). As a long-standing member of the Advisory Board, he also has a deep insight into the development of the Fußball-Spielbetriebs GmbH, the strategic and structural further development of which he will primarily oversee in the coming years.

"I shall approach the task with great motivation, clarity and lots of ideas, but also with the necessary respect. I'm looking forward to working with a young, creative and committed team on a daily basis and, above all, to an intensive and constructive dialogue with my three colleagues from the Board of Management. Since we have known each other for many years, we will quickly find a common working level," said Markus Schütz, whose law firm will cease to work for TSG in the future.

"Markus is the ideal man to have at the helm of a company that aims to be led into the future with foresight," said Simone Engelhardt, who represents the majority shareholder of the GmbH as Interim Club Board Chairwoman alongside Frank Engelhardt (3rd Chairman). "As Managing Directors, Jan Mayer, Alex Rosen and Denni Strich are so heavily involved in their respective areas of expertise and with their responsibilities, partly due to TSG's growth in recent years, that we consider it essential to appoint another person to the Board of Management who will also assume responsibility for the increasingly complex corporate development in a challenging environment," continued Simone Engelhardt.

"TSG have been playing in the Bundesliga without interruption since 2008, the academy is conducting outstanding work and Hoffenheim have become an internationally recognised name thanks to their unique regional, sustainable, social and innovative scientific approach. The new set-up is intended to ensure that the positive development and successes in the GmbH and the club in recent years can not only be continued, but also expanded upon," said co-shareholder Dietmar Hopp.

Last season, the TSG's Bundesliga men's team qualified for an international competition (Europa League) for the fourth time, while the U19 juniors became the first local youth football team ever to win the German Championship and DFB-Pokal double.

Saarbrücken native Markus Schütz is considered to be one of the most renowned sports lawyers in the country. He was the first lawyer in Baden-Württemberg to be awarded the title of "Specialist Lawyer for Sports Law". Before becoming a lawyer, he was head of department at the Ministry of Justice in Stuttgart and a judge for 12 years, most recently at the Baden-Württemberg Administrative Court in Mannheim. In addition, the 59-year-old father of three publishes the specialist journal "SpoPrax" (Nomos Verlag), which he founded and which focuses on sports law and e-sports law.