The rise of Frankfurt Eintracht in the German football landscape from the lowlands to the higher mountainous regions has received further proof with the appointment of Axel Hellmann to the management board of the German Football League (DFL).

The successes of the Hessian football club in recent years are anything but a one-man show.

But the spokesman of the board of Eintracht Frankfurt Fußball AG stands like no other for the development of the almost relegated team from 2016 to the round of 16 of the Champions League in 2022, for the evolution of a traditional club with slight signs of paralysis into a modern, expanding company that proactively tackles all future issues.

Hellmann is the spirit that has played a major role in shaping the club's philosophy and strategy, and he is the brains that represent Eintracht's way of thinking about football on the committees of national and international associations.

Watzke appreciates Hellmann's opinion

No wonder, then, that the DFL supervisory board, headed by Hans-Joachim Watzke, came to Hellmann when they were looking for a quick solution to succeed the unloved managing director Donata Hopfen.

As a dual leader with Oliver Leki from SC Freiburg, he should tackle the burning problem areas of German professional football such as the 50+1 rule, foreign marketing, national TV marketing, the entry of an investor and the basic agreement with the DFB as purposefully and constructively as the supervisory board missed hops.

The hope is justified, because Hellmann (also Leki) has been a member of many DFL commissions on the problem issues for a long time and his opinion is valued by the head of the supervisory board, Watzke.

Hellmann and Leki's commitment is initially limited up to and including June 30, 2023, and the position is to be permanent on July 1st.

But Watzke did not want to rule out on Thursday that the interim solution could also become a permanent solution if it turned out to be ideal.

And if the two club managers enjoy their association work.

In the case of Hellmann, this is very conceivable.

The 51-year-old has always looked beyond the Frankfurt horizon, dealt with national and international issues, is represented in many committees - this year he was also elected to the DFL Executive Committee.

Hellmann could not be replaced one-to-one for Eintracht.

She might continue to be competently managed without him, but she would definitely become someone else.

But it's not that far yet.

So far, the following applies: Hellmann will be driving the Eintracht/DFL double shift up to and including June 30, 2023, although he will certainly have to delegate some tasks to the second management level of the club in order to be able to adequately address the urgent issues of the league.

Then you will see how it goes on.

From Eintracht's point of view, however, it is to be feared that Hellmann will do his DFL thing as well as his Eintracht thing and arouses desires.