Werder Bremen club members have started a petition to oust chief personnel executive Clemens Fritz. The 45-year-old Fritz is under fire as Bremen continue to underperform athletically and Fritz’s front office finds itself in the highly embarrassing position of having difficulty understanding and implementing its administrative responsibilities.
The “Anti Clemens Fritz” movement has collected 3,600 signatures
Under the banner of “Enough is Enough”, 3,600 SVW club members have signed a petition demanding that the club supervisory board convene a special meeting to evaluate Fritz’s performance. Tradition at the Hanseatic city state club holds that, if 10 percent of membership signs a petition, the supervisory board must comply with the request. At present, this corresponds to around 7,000 signatures.
Club President responds to movement
Speaking to Bremen’s Deichstube fan-site, Club President Hubertus Hess-Grunewald acknowledged that the board took the movement seriously. Hess-Grunewald nevertheless pointed out that there remain bureaucratic hurdles even after the 7,000 signatures are collected. Moreover, the eventual performance review would not be able to issue any binding recommendations.
Fritz still enjoys backing of the board
“Sporting failures have also led to increased frustration and concern among the membership,” Hess-Grunewald told Deichstube. “We take this very seriously and have taken note of the petition. The request must be reviewed before the organizational preparations for a general meeting could be made. A special general meeting could hold a discussion, but could not decide anything further.
“The supervisory board fully supports the new course taken by the management since the summer and is accompanying this process in a critical and constructive manner,” Hess-Grunewald nevertheless continued. “We trust Clemens to make the right decisions as the responsible managing director.”
