The ex-patron’s change of heart: When Oeri said goodbye, there were still warm words for Heusler

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Whoever you ask around at FC Basel: everyone emphasizes that Gigi Oeri (67) stood for plain language. A direct person. One who said if something didn’t suit her.

All the more surprising is the attack on Bernhard Heusler (59). Eleven years after her departure, the longtime FCB patron accused her successor in a “BAZ” interview of “pulling her chair away”. “We had a great time, it only went up. Many people in the club have been very supportive of us. Until day X, when I was pushed out of FC Basel by Bernhard Heusler,” said Oeri.

“Heusler, the perfect successor”

Day X, according to people close to the Roche heiress, is the day Georg Heitz became head of sports at FCB. And Heusler increasingly discussed sporting matters with his sympathetic partner. Instead of Oeri.

When asked that the accusation against Heusler was a serious one, Oeri replied, “Yes, but that’s how I feel today.” When Oeri announced her departure from FCB eleven years ago, however, it sounded very different. At that time, the Roche heiress literally smeared honey around the lips of her successor. “Believe me, I wouldn’t have resigned if I hadn’t known Bernhard Heusler as the perfect successor. I am convinced that he is the right man and that now is the right time.”

Oeri played a major role in its success

Why the change of heart? It is heard from Oeri’s environment that the long-standing patron is suffering from being retroactively reduced to a sponsor. She also made a strong contribution in terms of content and led the club for Heusler herself. She probably did not feel reduced to her patronage when she left in 2012. On the contrary, it has accumulated in recent years when thinking about the past. She didn’t want to discredit Heusler with the interview, but there were other important people in FCB history besides him.

She herself, among others, as she emphasizes in an interview with the “BAZ”: “In the end, it’s like this: Heusler never invested anything in the club, except in his knowledge and skills. But he was credited everywhere before retiring in 2017 That was of course correct from his point of view. As chairman he was very good for FC Basel. He made it clear to me that my money was needed, but no more.”

Heusler himself is shocked by Blick about the allegations: “During our time together in the FCB leadership, Ms Oeri was much more than ‘just’ a financier, which is why I also arranged for her to be appointed as the club’s first honorary president. There was no reason to expel Mrs. Oeri from the club.”

Source : Blick