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The dispute at the top of the FCB between Bernhard Burgener and David Degen continues to escalate. After David Degen was the first of the games to comment publicly on the dispute at the “Basler Zeitung,” board member Karli Odermatt now speaks in the Sunday edition of “Blick.”
Threats to Odermatt
The FCB legend harshly criticized Degen: “I’m sick of David Degen”, Rickenbacher is quoted. The 78-year-old receives threatening letters from FCB fans, as he puts it: Last week around 40 in one day: “You won’t see next year if you don’t vote for Degen!” or “Never show up in town again if you don’t choose Degen, the reaction from the base will follow!” he says for example.
Odermatt told the newspaper: “I take my position, duty of care and responsibility as a member of the board of directors very seriously. And that includes the independence of my voice, ”says Odermatt. “I support and do everything I can to ensure that FC Basel does well and successfully survive these difficult times and challenges. It is also important that FC Basel find its way back to success in sporting terms as well. “
Dispute over the Centricus talks
Regarding the Centricus deal Burgener reached in June 2020, Odermatt says Burgener Degen had proposed to sell 40 percent of the shares to Centricus and divide the remaining 60 percent equally between Burgener and Degen. “So control would have remained in the hands of Basel, with both of them.”
Degen declined this and made a counter offer. This was “so presumptuous” that Bernhard rejected it, according to Odermatt. “At the same time, documents and information about Centricus handed over to Degen leaked to the press and fans confronted Centricus, causing chaos to deface the facade of FC Basel’s office with disrespectful statements.”
“What David Degen did not say was that, according to an email dated July 13, 2020, he tried to convince the Centricus agent that Centricus should make the deal with him, David Degen, and not with Burgener,” he continues to denounce. Odermatt. The alleged email from former FIFA communications director Walter De Gregorio made headlines this week.
Degen himself had already responded to the accusations in his interview with the “BaZ”. “That’s part of the mood and it’s just not true. Bernhard Burgener wanted me to listen to Centricus in spring 2020. I said it was not true for FCB and therefore not true for me either. At least not with voting rights and not without several clarifications. “But nothing happened.” Except that De Gregorio tried several times later in the summer to convince me of the solution, according to which Bernhard would have 32 percent of the shares of tenure, while 30 percent would go to me and Centricus. I declined. “De Gregorio called him again last Saturday. “I told him that I was not interested, but that I would like to sit down with Bernhard and that we would have to find a solution.” De Gregorio, on the other hand, says that Degen made the first contact with him and not the other way around.
“David Degen tried to buy the club from behind”
Odermatt also sent a letter to “Blick” that Burgener received on September 29, 2020. This is signed by Thomas Trinkler, Patrick Held and former FIFA player Guido Tognoni. There are big names in Basel who would like to buy the club and who would guarantee Burgener “a dignified and conflict-free replacement,” he says.
The senders would have known that Burgener did not want to sell: “From a neutral point of view, we believe that we can object that such a categorical attitude would not only make it very difficult to solve the existing problems, but would also cause his personal reputation to suffer”, it said on it. “Furthermore, a hostile takeover of FC Basel with all the unavoidable background noise in our view would not serve the club or you as an internationally active businessman.
Burgener understood these sentences as a threat, according to Odermatt. “With these people, David Degen tried to buy the club backwards, which he denied at first. And he said it had nothing to do with it. He only spoke to the knights once. But we were able to prove it, and Degen was warned in his role as a member of the board of directors. “
Data provided to Sarasin?
The Sarasin family of bankers was also in discussion as a potential buyer when Bernhard Heusler sold the club to Burgener in 2017. “David Degen also had discussions with Eric Sarasin about buying FCB shares. And in that context it massively violated confidentiality and due diligence obligations, ”said Odermatt. “In his role as a member of the Board of Directors, Degen requested to receive the confidential semi-annual figures so that he could analyze them. What we didn’t know is that he sent it to Sarasin, ”says Odermatt.
In an email from Sarasin he says: “I don’t know how things will go from here, but here is my assessment of the semi-annual figures I sent to David Degen. I even ordered him to email Burgener, but I never heard from him again. “
Meanwhile, in another email between Sarasin and Degen, there were phrases such as “I took the trouble to dismantle this ridiculous balance / profit and loss account of the FCB” and “I have prepared a letter that you must present to the Board of Directors and auditors. As VR, you David have the right to do it! “Criticized Odermatt:” These emails reveal two things. First, David Degen passed confidential figures to Eric Sarasin. Second, he transmitted text 1: 1 proposed by Eric Sarasin, which we can test. “
On October 30, Sarasin officially withdrew from Burgener as a potential buyer.
Meanwhile, Degen said of a possible Sarasin involvement: “I can’t talk about a future team right now, really. This has not been fixed yet either. I have to protect my people. I am Winkelried, I can bear everything that hits me. So much dirt is being thrown out right now. But it’s okay, I can accept it. I expected it that way. “
Degen’s advisor, Dani Büchi, confirms that Degen had exchanged ideas with Sarasin about the FCB. In response to the allegation that Degen had transmitted non-public financial data to Sarasin, Büchi told the newspaper: “David Degen only saw FC Basel’s financial figures for the financial year 2020 on a live stream at Bernhard’s press conference. Burgener eight days ago. . Although David Degen is a member of the board of directors, he did not even know the current financial figures in advance. “
“Money can come from anywhere.”
Odermatt also questions Degen’s financial resources. The 38-year-old man had said that the 16.4 million francs would consist of his own capital. Odermatt asks: “Why did you have so many conversations with investors when you supposedly have the funds personally? The financing commitment confirms that there is 16.4 million francs in his bank account. “Degen did not disclose the origin of the money, despite another request from the board of directors.” His behavior does not generate the necessary transparency and trust. And everything is possible with it. Money can come from anywhere. “
Rumors that Degen wanted to join GC also caused Odermatt to criticize. Degen had only denied the allegations on Instagram before the former GC leader posted an email. For Odermatt, the case is clear: “He did not tell the truth about this issue and not about many other things. And I don’t take these incidents lightly. They make me think “.
The Yystoo movement and fan protests also give Odermatt pause. “I find the demonstration with the burning of Bernhard Burgener’s wrist, which was massively supported by Yystoo, and the current threats against me, terrible. I simply have no words ”, says the FCB legend. “I can only hope that everyone recognizes what this movement has done. They incite the population, allow a symbolic public execution and look the other way. “
And further: “What disappointed me immensely was the false report organized immediately after the board meeting last Monday by David Degen and his adviser Dani Büchi,” says Odermatt. And above all I want to put on record that it was David Degen who initiated the judicial dispute with the super-provisional precautionary measure ”.
