Borussia Dortmund chief executive officer Hans-Joachim Watzke will take over as chairman of the supervisory board of the DFL (German Football League) on 11 February 2022. Watzke was elected by the clubs of the Bundesliga and Bundesliga 2 at the DFL members' assembly on Tuesday.

The 62-year-old succeeds Peter Peters, who will step down from his positions on DFL committees at his own request on 11 February 2022 due to his candidacy for the office of DFB president.

By resolution of the DFB executive committee, as 1st deputy chairman of the executive committee of the DFL Hans-Joachim Watzke will also become 1st vice president of the DFB. Watzke's operational focus, however, will remain on his job at Bundesliga club Borussia Dortmund.

" Getting 32 out of 34 votes in a secret ballot is a very good result from which a great responsibility grows," said Watzke after his election. He himself sees his "most important tasks in the future as supporting Donata Hopfen (from 2022 chairwoman of the management board and thus successor to Christian Seifert), backing her, giving advice when she wants it, involving myself in strategic matters of the league and also supervising in the truest sense of the word. I will not interfere in operational matters as much as is possible," he emphasised.

Watzke, who thanked Peter Peters and Christian Seifert for their trustful cooperation over the past years, also declared that in his role as 1st vice-president of the DFB he would work to ensure that "we work together again in a somewhat more harmonious and constructive manner". He was keen to stress: "Football is still an important social bond. It is the responsibility of all of us to make it shine a little more again. And that can only be done together.''