RB Leipzig Surprise: Swiss Lesbian Becomes Club President

The Bundesliga club RB Leipzig surprised many by naming Swiss national Tatjana Haenni as chief executive officer. The 59-year-old, internationally recognized women’s soccer manager will take the reins as CEO of RB Leipzig, the league’s second-place team, making her the first woman to hold this post in the German top flight.

Haenni will begin her duties on January 1, 2026, RB Leipzig announced. She succeeds Oliver Mintzlaff in the vacant leadership role and, according to the club, will help “future-proof the club by expanding the management structure.”

Open stance on sexuality

Haenni is openly lesbian. While she has never publicly come out in a formal sense, her sexual orientation has never been a secret in football or during her roles at UEFA or FIFA. She has been transparent about who she is and even participated in a 2020 book, “Role Models and Prejudice. Lesbian Top Athletes Tell Their Stories.”

In a June interview with Republik, she said, “I have always been very open about being a lesbian; I never thought it was strange because my world was women’s football, and in women’s soccer there are many of us.”

Experience in Switzerland and the United States

The former Swiss national player has been a driving force in women’s soccer for years. She has held key positions at UEFA and FIFA and also organized the 2011 Women’s World Cup in Germany. Haenni was once the first woman on the board of the Swiss Football Association. Since January 1, 2023, she has served as the director of sport in the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) in the United States.

Some women in co-responsibility in men’s football

It remains rare for women to hold leadership roles at German professional clubs. In 1986, FDP politician Gisela Schwerdt served eight months as president of the former second-division club Arminia Bielefeld. In 1991, TSV 1860 München, under the club’s female president Liselotte Knecht, rose from the Bayernliga to the 2. Bundesliga. In March 2022, Nicole Kumpis was elected president of Eintracht Braunschweig, sitting on the supervisory board of the spin-off professional entity Eintracht Braunschweig GmbH & Co. KGaA. Katja Kraus was on the executive board of Hamburger SV from 2003 to 2011, and Britta Steilmann rose to the position of manager at SG Wattenscheid 09 three decades ago as the first woman at a top-tier club.

Mintzlaff “very happy”

Mintzlaff notified RB’s staff early in the morning about the striking personnel decision. “We have completed our executive team. With Tatjana Haenni as the new CEO, who will steer our course, I am very happy about this development,” said Red Bull’s chief executive during the opening of RB’s new office. The Leipzig leadership team also includes Johann Plenge (Business), Florian Hopp (Administration), and Marcel Schäfer (Sport).

“I am very excited about the new role and the opportunity to work with Johann Plenge, Florian Hopp, Marcel Schäfer, and all colleagues,” Haenni said in RB’s announcement. “I can’t wait to start in January, get to know the club even better and more intensely, and together we will continue on the successful path we have charted and realize our ambitious goals.”

Hopfen’s brief stint at the DFL top

Haenni’s appointment at RB also caught attention because leadership roles in German professional football are still predominantly male. Donata Hopfen’s tenure as head of the DFL’s management was short-lived in 2022. At the German Football Association (DFB), men have traditionally occupied the top post, though the DFB has pushed to place more women in senior roles, with Heike Ullrich recently serving as secretary-general for a period.

A coup for Haenni

Haenni was once at UEFA, where she was the first employee dedicated solely to women’s football. She held a leadership role during her 18 years at FIFA, including department head positions. The Swiss-born executive is known for her expansive international network and fearlessness in fighting for more rights and visibility for women’s soccer. The Tages-Anzeiger labeled her move to Leipzig a “coup for the Swiss football official.” In a Time interview last summer, she quipped, “I don’t have anything against men—as long as they know what they’re doing.” In the run-up to the Euro in Switzerland, she told Kicker, “Women’s soccer will one day be as big as men’s.”

Public sharing of a hate-letter

Haenni attracted international headlines in 2022 when she shared a hate-filled letter she had received, filled with sexist and homophobic comments, via her social channels. “By publishing this letter, I wanted to raise public awareness and demonstrate that respect and tolerance are still all too often betrayed,” she explained at the time as the Swiss football federation’s director.