Andreas Heiermann, who has been the honorary president of Borussia Dortmund's handball department since 2008, today (Thursday) announced his resignation to the club's board and will step down with immediate effect. Heiermann's deputy Rupert Thiele will take over as the head of the department until further notice.

"The recent events surrounding the BVB senior women's handball team have greatly concerned me too. Following careful consideration, I have come to the conclusion that I would prefer to bring forward my retirement from this honorary position, which I had long been planning for 2024, for personal and private reasons," explained Heiermann, adding: "I do so with full conviction and in the hope of making my contribution to the restructuring and ongoing professionalisation of the handball department, which I believe is already necessary at this point in time."

On behalf of the board, BVB President Dr Reinhard Rauball accepted the head of department's resignation, saying: "Andreas Heiermann has helped us to maintain the handball department in the e.V. in economically difficult times and, following its successful consolidation, he has also played a key role in shaping its extraordinary development." BVB's female A-youth team became German champions in 2019, while the first team became a big name in Germany after returning to the top flight in 2015: the Black & Yellows won the German title in 2021 and subsequently became the first German women's team to progress through the group stage of the Champions League.

"Andreas Heiermann's great commitment over more than one and a half decades and his voluntary contribution to handball at BVB must be acknowledged," Dr Rauball declared. "At the same time, there are numerous challenges in women's handball that need to be tackled with great vigour. Andreas Heiermann has convinced me in personal discussions that he no longer possesses the strength for this. His resignation is therefore logical and deserves respect."