Dr. Thomas Ignatzi stepped down from his role as VfB Stuttgart’s Chief Financial Officer & Chief Operations Officer on 30 June 2025, having held the position since August 2021. The financial expert successfully made a significant contribution to the economic stabilisation and financial recovery of the club.
He was also one of the people responsible for the ground-breaking renovation of the MHP Arena into one of the most modern stadiums in Europe, and for other important infrastructure measures. Furthermore, the 60-year-old Hamburg native introduced decisive changes in the areas of corporate governance, compliance management and human resources.
The supervisory board has handed responsibility for the divisions of finance, human resources, legal & compliance as well as operations & infrastructure to the executive team led by CEO Alexander Wehrle on an interim basis from 1 July 2025.
Dietmar Allgaier, chairman of the supervisory board and President of VfB Stuttgart, said: “Both personally and on behalf of VfB Stuttgart as a whole, I would like to extend my sincere thanks to Thomas Ignatzi for all that he has achieved over the past four years. His commitment, expertise, passion and business foresight played a key role in ensuring that VfB not only gained financial stability after some difficult years, but also moved into a phase of growth and further development. Alongside his colleagues on the executive committee, he modernised and future-proofed the club. We would all like to wish Thomas Ignatzi the very best for this new phase of his life, both professionally and privately, and we would be delighted if he remained associated with VfB.”
Dr. Thomas Ignatzi: “The decision to turn my attention to new goals in my home city now – and not in 2026 as originally planned – has been growing in me for some time. I had constructive and supportive conversations with the supervisory board in this regard. If there is ever a right time to take this step then it is now, with VfB as freshly crowned DFB Cup winners, having participated in the Champions League, and in a position to approach the future with ambition from an economically stable foundation. I would like to express my heartfelt thanks to all committee representatives, employees, stakeholders, partners and sponsors for an extraordinary time that my family and I would not want to have gone without.”