The nonprofit organization “Fussball kann mehr” (FKM –– Football Can Do More) has released its third report on diversity in professional German football. This time, all 36 teams in the top two divisions took part, and the results reveal a familiar tale of dominance. A revealing 29 of the 36 clubs have an all-male management team.
There was a noticeable increase in women in top management positions in the 2025-26 season though, with four of the 18 new appointments to top management positions being women. The previous season, only one of the 19 open positions at the time were filled by a woman. RB Leipzig’s Tatjana Haenni, who became the first female CEO in the Bundesliga in late 2025, is one of them. Nicole Kumpis of Eintracht Braunschweig remains the only female president of a club in the top two flights. Kathleen Krüger’s appointment at HSV came after the study’s cutoff, boosting the original numbers.
Only nine of the 94 positions at the highest management level are now held by women. The nine women are:
- Tatjana Haenni, CEO at RB Leipzig
- Luise Gottberg, vice president at St. Pauli
- Hanna Obersteller vice president at St. Pauli
- Petra Saretz, executive board member at Heidenheim
- Jennifer Zietz, managing director of women’s football at Union Berlin
- Katharina Kienemann, executive committee member at Union Berlin
- Svenja Schlenker, managing director of HR at Borussia Dortmund
- Christina Rühl-Hamers, board member for finance, HR, and legal at Schalke
- Anne-Kathrin Laufmann, managing director of sports & sustainability at Werder Bremen
Seen through a comparative lens, this is three more than the previous season. The only number lower than the number of women in management roles is the international diversification on supervisory boards – fewer than 3% of members are not German.
“We would love to report that the spirit of renewal exuded by these top executives is permeating German professional football and that the necessary transformation is in full swing,” Katja Kraus, co-chair of the FKM advisory board, said in a press release.
“But progress remains slow; spectacular isolated cases and stagnation at the grassroots level are not mutually exclusive, but rather explain each other. Visible exceptions create an impression of progress that reduces the pressure on what is actually a sluggish structure.”
Women’s football has untapped potential
Also addressed in the survey was women’s football. The Women’s Bundesliga’s decision to move away from the DFB and operate independently opens up new doors, especially for women looking to move into management positions. Currently though, men still dominate in the women’s game too, with only four of the 14 Women’s Bundesliga teams coached by women (Cologne, Union Berlin, Werder Bremen and Hoffenheim).
In the face of structural barriers for women in elite sport, the challenges remain in both men’s and women’s football. The hope is that in the years ahead, particularly with Euro 2029 being held in Germany, that German clubs will look to implement change when it comes to the diversity of their management.
Edited by: Chuck Penfold
