The DFL Foundation has appointed Franziska Fey as its Chairwoman. The 35-year-old has been working for the DFL Foundation (“DFL Stiftung”) since 2015. Since 2018, she has been Head of Projects, with responsibility for areas including strategic topic development and for advising the Executive Board. Before joining the DFL Foundation, Franziska Fey worked for the renowned Robert Bosch Stiftung for several years.

“We have great faith in Franziska Fey as the future Chairwoman of the DFL Foundation. With her professional expertise and personal motivation, she is the right person to lead the DFL Foundation into the future. The objective is to press ahead with the social commitment of the foundation in conjunction with the professional clubs,” said Christian Seifert, Chairman of the Executive Committee of the DFL and DFL CEO.

Christian Pfennig, Chairman of the Foundation Board of the DFL Foundation, explained: “With Franziska Fey at its head, the DFL Foundation will set the tone at a time when credible and sustained commitment from professional football is becoming increasingly important. We are convinced that, under her leadership, the team at the DFL Foundation will continuously build on the foundations laid in recent years.”

From 1 September 2020, the Executive Board of the DFL Foundation will consist of Franziska Fey as Chairwoman and Jörg Degenhart, who has been a member of the body since 2014. In her future role, Franziska Fey will succeed Stefan Kiefer, who is leaving the DFL Foundation at his own request after six years as CEO and will bow out on 31 August 2020.

“First and foremost, I would like to thank the founders for the trust they have placed in me,” said Franziska Fey. “Playing a leading role in shaping the social commitment of professional football and thereby continuing to provide valuable impetus in many forms is an exciting and responsible task. I am delighted to build on the good work done in previous years together with my future team and to strategically develop the operations of the DFL Foundation in the process,” she added.

Since it was established in 2008, the DFL Foundation has campaigned primarily for young people. In conjunction with the clubs in the Bundesliga and Bundesliga 2, it campaigns for social cohesion in its action areas of “Integration and participation” and “Growing up healthy and active” and, in the area of “Elite sport”, supports young athletes from more than 50 Olympic and Paralympic disciplines as well as deaf sports within the framework of programmes such as Youth Elite Patronage.

(DFL Deutsche Fußball Liga)