There is no agreement in the legal dispute between 1. FC Nürnberg and Dr. Mario Hamm, however, the prospect of successful out-of-court negotiations between the second division club and its finance director. This is the result of an appointment at the Nuremberg Labor Court on Tuesday afternoon. The intermediate tones are particularly exciting.
1. FC Nürnberg is in a legal dispute with finance director Dr. Mario Hamm.
imago images/Zink
Fighting is not only the trump card in the lower house, but also in court and there things were definitely going on between Hamm and the club. Harsh words like trial fraud or smoke screens were used. As such, Hamm’s attorney Dr. Detlef Kehlen referred to a request for dissolution of the 1st FCN, which the Middle Franconia had made the day before the hearing. However, the hurdles for such an application are high. The second division apparently accused his ex-employee of having made false statements regarding his tasks in supporting transfer and consultancy contracts. Fraud, that’s the accusation. Strong tobacco. judge dr. However, Silja Steindl signaled that, from her point of view, the reason for the dissolution was not so clear.
The devil is in the details
On July 1, 2021, the Nuremberg team fired the finance expert, who has been with the club since 2012 and temporarily acted as interim board member after Ralf Woy left in 2015. The 40-year-old, who also sits on the DFL Finance Committee, didn’t want to let that sit and that’s where the devil – keyword smoke candle – is in the details. From the outside, one could assume that with the appointment of sports director Olaf Rebbe in April, Hamm’s expertise in drawing up transfer and consulting contracts was no longer really necessary.
Hamm, who named ex-sports directors Andreas Bornemann and Robert Palikuca as witnesses to his general activities, argues that this was indeed the case. He also worked significantly on contracts between April and July. The nuances are also exciting. “If you know in March that you will have a bad result, then draft contracts so that you can book them into the next year under commercial law,” says Hamm, describing the procedure with the balance sheets in professional football. The person who was fired also explained that he only wanted to do his job, that there was enough demand for financial experts in the Corona crisis in football. Nuremberg lawyer Dr. Sebastian Hopfner countered that he could have found a new job long ago. It is questionable whether Hamm is even aiming for this.
Ultimately, however, it is the case that a labor court usually strives for an amicable agreement. Judge Stindl put around 300,000 euros in the room. Hamm also wants him to formally continue to be employed until September in order to erase the “compulsory termination” clause – the remuneration for continued employment would be included in the 300,000 euros. The club, represented by board members Dieter Hecking and Niels Rossow, initially offered 100,000 euros. No agreement, stated judge Stindl, who will presumably reject the association’s application for dissolution. However, the parties did agree to initially continue the talks out of court. Maybe we can get together after all. So the bandages at the “final whistle” weren’t quite as tough as they were at the beginning of the negotiations.
