Schalke confirmed: Tönnies lets office rest

Club boss Clemens Tönnies of the Bundesliga club Schalke 04 will be leaving his office as chairman of the supervisory board for three months after his derailment last Thursday. This was announced by the club after a meeting of the honorary council lasting several hours. The 63-year-old thus avoided exclusion from the club.

The five-member committee came to the conclusion that the accusation of racism was “unfounded”. However, he was accused of having “violated the prohibition of discrimination enshrined in the articles of association and the mission statement”.

Tönnies had “once again expressed his regret”, it was stated in a statement. Tönnies will leave his office for three months and then resume his activities on the supervisory board.

On Thursday last week, Tönnies gave a speech on the topic “Entrepreneurship with responsibility – ways into the future of food production” at the festive event of the “Day of Crafts” in Paderborn.

The Schalke boss recommended the financing of power plants in Africa and said: “Then the Africans would stop felling trees and they would stop producing children when it is dark”. This was followed last Friday by a public apology from Tönnies, yet there was harsh criticism of the billion-dollar entrepreneur from Rheda-Wiedenbrück.