The appointment of a new managing director for business could be delayed until March. It is also unclear what role the current head of sport and coach Zoran Barisic will play in the future. Wrabetz heads a list to be elected at Rapid’s annual general meeting on Nov. 26. A fight vote like three years ago will be avoided this time.
Around 40 media representatives attended the 80-minute press conference. “When I was elected ORF Director General, there weren’t as many journalists there as there are today,” says Wrabetz with a wink. The great interest shows the importance that Rapid has in public. “For me, this is the most wonderful football club in the world.” Internationally, too, Rapid is “the most recognized and well-known Austrian football club,” said Wrabetz.
Future Rapid leadership sets the course
The future Rapid President Alexander Wrabetz presented his goals with the Hütteldorfers at a press conference on Thursday.
In recent years, however, the successes have not kept pace with the popularity. Rapid have been waiting for a title since 2008, Hütteldorfer are currently fourth in the league and participation in the Conference League group phase was lost against Vaduz in the summer. Subsequent fan protests led to the departure of the current Presidium. Wrabetz is now taking over, supported by WU Vienna Rector Edeltraud Hanappi-Egger as Vice President and ex-Rapid professional Michael Hatz.
Budget should be increased
Wrabetz was confident that he and his team would be able to reverse the trend. “The most important goal is sporting success. Everything has to be subordinate to that in order to get on the road to success in sport as quickly as possible,” said the 62-year-old. Finances play a crucial role in this context. The budget, which was recently between 40 and 50 million euros, is to be increased to 60 million euros. “An ambitious goal, but it is necessary to pursue it,” says Wrabetz. 30 million euros, almost twice as much as before, are planned for the sports sector.
It has not yet been clarified who will be responsible for the budget as managing director. According to Wrabetz, an interim successor to Christoph Peschek will soon be installed, and the new chief economic officer will be appointed by the end of March at the latest. The sports director is also vacant.
Hatz, who is responsible for sports in the presidency, said: “Barisic remains a coach is a possible option. He has proven in the last few games that he is doing a good job and has a good connection to the team.” It is “probable and possible” that Barisic will remain the coach and the post of head of sport will be filled. Barisic exclusively as managing director of sport is also conceivable.
Hofmann Part of the “Sports axis” in the background
Steffen Hofmann is not a candidate for this post. “He’s certainly not aiming for the role of sporting director,” reported Wrabetz. Rapid’s record player is currently the official sports coordinator, but he will also be moving to the presidency on November 26 – albeit only for a short time. “He will accompany the initial phase in the Executive Committee and set the course for the future with us, but will return to operational business after this initial phase,” explained Wrabetz. Hofmann’s future job definition should be set before the end of this year.
Together with Hatz, Hofmann will form the “sports axis”, said the future Rapid President. In addition, Michael Tojner will also be responsible for sport on the executive committee. The entrepreneur also belongs to the “Team Economy” together with Wrabetz, Hanappi-Egger, Stefan Singer and Christian Podoschek, the “Team Organization” consists of Podoschek, Hanappi-Egger, Stefan Kjaer and Nurten Yilmaz.
Tojner is currently on trial in the Chorherr trial. “He’s one of the most successful entrepreneurs in the country and one of the biggest Rapid fans there is,” Wrabetz said. Due to time constraints, Andreas Treichl does not have a seat on the executive committee, but the former Erste Group boss will act as a kind of club ambassador.
Goals: Top three and international
Wrabetz emphasized that they are taking over a “well-ordered house” from the current executive committee and will leave operational management to the two managing directors. “We don’t want to be a joint manager.” While the soon-to-be-resigned President Martin Bruckner was more reluctant to make public announcements, his predecessor Michael Krammer was very present. “I put it exactly in the middle between Krammer and Bruckner,” reveals Wrabetz.
When he took office, Krammer’s goal was to break into Europe’s top 50. “That was an overambitious announcement,” said Wrabetz and stated his expectations: “Rapid has to be in the top three and in international competitions. The goal must always be to get close to the championship title without me announcing it.”
No preliminary talks with Ultras and Co.
In the past, the sporting failures have repeatedly led to considerable fan protests, including actions that caused heads to shake. Nevertheless, Wrabetz defended the organized fan scene. “There is no such thing as Rapid fans in the world in a positive sense. A lot has changed in the fan scene – I heard certain chants from the Austria sector in the last derby that I used to hear at Rapid.” Wrabetz added that he hadn’t had any preliminary talks with Ultras and Co.
His future colleague from the presidency, Hatz, moved into the presidency at the end of June. The ex-Italy legionnaire was originally on the Singer list and claims to have been “one of the master builders when the lists were brought together”.
Scouting in sight, Ghana in focus?
Now Hatz wants to improve the scouting area, among other things. “It has been neglected and underestimated for a long time. We now have a good team, but we have to expand that and look for new partnerships,” said Hatz. New markets are to be developed, possibly also in Africa – Ghana is said to have moved into Rapid’s focus.
Hatz wants a consistent game philosophy, a forward-looking transfer policy and also said, with a view to Taxiarchis Fountas, among other things: “Rapid must not be an oasis of well-being and also not a casual stopover. It must never happen again that players willing to emigrate poison the atmosphere in the team and ruin an entire season.”
Like Hatz, Hanappi-Egger, daughter-in-law of the late Rapid legend Gerhard Hanappi, is looking forward to the task ahead. She hopes to make her father-in-law proud, explained the university rector. “Rapid stands for solidarity, togetherness, social commitment, diversity and openness. These are values that are also important to me,” said Hanappi-Egger.
