Why Hertha BSC fired Fredi Bobic

Hertha BSC fired Fredi Bobic without notice in February. Shortly after he had already been relieved of his duties as sports manager. Again Mirror now revealed, there was more than one reason for this.

In January, Hertha BSC fired its former sports manager – two weeks later, he was dismissed without notice for behavior that was harmful to the club. Originally, statements made shortly before his dismissal in a TV interview were assumed to be the reason for this. He said to a journalist, “If you ask again, you’ll get a smack.”

But apparently there is more to the termination without notice than just a thoughtless “emotional reaction”, as Bobic later called it.

In addition to the known incident, according to the Mirror in the dispute over the termination without notice, which is currently being fought in court, also over a brand ambassador contract that Bobic concluded with his friend Axel Kruse. According to the report, Bobic’s former strike partner will receive around 450,000 euros net, almost half a million, as part of the “Hertha Legends” for his role as brand ambassador. He could earn this over four years. Two of these are already anchored in the current contract, and Kruse can activate two more years by option.

According to the report, other “legends” are also rewarded for their role as brand ambassadors, but by no means to such an extent. While Kruse should collect an annual fee of 100,000 euros net, the remuneration for Gabor Kiraly or Marko Rehmer, for example, is only 500 to 1000 euros per appearance. Apparently there is no annual fee here.

The Hertha Presidium is said to be “suspicious” because of the contract, according to the report. It will be checked whether this employment as a brand ambassador Bobic could be interpreted negatively. Then this brand ambassador agreement would reinforce the reasons for the termination without notice.

Fredi Bobic is said to have leaked confidential information from Hertha

But apparently he is not only accused of preferential treatment for his friend. The report also states that there is a letter from Hertha’s club lawyers that Bobic may have disclosed “confidential information” to “unauthorized third parties”. Specifically, it is about the negotiations with the new investor 777 Partners, who wants to buy the shares from Lars Windhorst.

In addition to his reputation in the sports business, after all, Bobic was recently traded as a possible successor to Oliver Bierhoff in the position of DFB sports director, there is also a lot of money at stake for the former sports director of Hertha.

When he was released in January, a decision by the Hertha executive committee is said to have awarded him a severance payment of 2.8 million euros, which Bobic should receive by mid-May. But Hertha wins the lawsuit for termination without notice, Bobic would probably not be entitled to any severance pay.