Werner Hackmann

• Honorary President of the DFL e.V.
• Former President of the League Association
• Former Chairman of the Supervisory Board of DFL GmbH
• Former member of the DFB League Committee

Werner Hackmann, born in 1943, was posthumously named as the first Ehrenpräsident (Honorary President) of the DFL. From the formation of the Ligaverband (now DFL e.V.) on 18 December 2000 until his death on 28 January 2007 aged just 59, he had served as its first President, as Chairman of the Supervisory Board of DFL GmbH and as Vice President of the German Football Association (DFB). Previously, as a member of the former DFB League Committee, Werner Hackmann helped pave the way for the independence of German professional football. He played an active role in bringing this about: for instance, Werner Hackmann was one of those who negotiated the first Rules and Governance Agreement for the DFL in months of talks with the DFB, thus laying the foundations for the organisational separation from the governing body. Along with setting up and positioning the new organisation, the Kirch crisis was one of the biggest challenges of his tenure. After the main bankroller of German professional football collapsed virtually overnight, Werner Hackmann worked with the former League Board (now the Executive Committee of the DFL) and DFL GmbH to ensure that matches went ahead in the Bundesliga and Bundesliga 2.

Before he began working in football, Werner Hackmann was initially involved in politics in his home city of Hamburg. While studying economics, he joined the SPD and became a personal advisor to Interior Senator Hans-Ulrich Klose. After Klose became First Mayor of Hamburg, Werner Hackmann himself had a six-year term as Interior Senator. After 20 years in politics, he went into football in 1997 following a spell as President of the Hamburger Sportbund (Hamburg Sports Federation), at Hamburger SV, Werner Hackmann was initially Managing Director, before serving as CEO from 1998 to 2002.