This archive report was first published on 7 August 2019.
On August 7, 2019, Schalke 04 president Clemens Toennies stepped down as club boss for a period of three months following a board hearing into controversial comments he made last week.
The comments, made at a conference in Paderborn, sparked a wave of angry reactions from former Schalke players and calls for his immediate resignation from his post at the Bundesliga club.
Former Ghanaian-born Germany and Schalke player Gerald Asamoah expressed his shock and hurt over Toennies' comments, saying, “His comments surprised me, shocked me and injured me. He is insulting me and everyone else involved.”
Despite the backlash, Toennies quickly issued a public apology, stating that his comments were wrong and inappropriate, but he stood fully behind the club’s fight against racism, discrimination, and exclusion.
Following a four-hour discussion, Schalke’s honorary board rejected the claims of racism but said Toennies had violated the club’s anti-discrimination rules.
“He accepted this violation and again expressed his regret. This is why Clemens Toennies has announced that he will step down from chair of the board for a period of three months,” the club said in a statement.
