FRANKFURT: Donata Hopfen will become the most powerful woman in German football after the 44-year-old was appointed to take over next year from long-serving Christian Seifert as ceo of the Bundesliga.

Formally, Hopfen will become chairman of the management board after her transfer from the Berlin office of the Boston Consulting Group, the company which implements digital business models worldwide. 

Previously she spent 15 years with Axel Springer Verlag, eventually as chair of the publishing management of the Bild group. This was followed by an interlude at Verimi, a cross-sector registration platform whose clients include Deutsche Bank, Daimler and Telekom.

Meanwhile the DFB remains in turmoil under interim leaders Rainer Koch and Peter Peters.

Recent issues included the DFB’s reluctance to concede greater commitment to women in football, a row which led to the departure from the German game of former top female referee Bibiana Steinhaus-Webb. She has now taken up a role with the English referees’ body.

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