Fortuna Dusseldorf Repays 14-Year-Old Loan Of Almost $10M From Businessman Kölmel

Bundesliga club Fortuna Dusseldorf "has repaid a loan" of €7.5M ($9.8M) that it received in '99 from businessman Michael Kölmel, according to DER WESTEN. The club reportedly "used the profits from the current season to repay the loan." The club has started repaying the loan, which increased due to interest to an amount of more than €11M ($14.3M), in Aug. '08. Fortuna negotiation leader Dr. Reinhold Ernst "was able to negotiate down the loan" to €7.5M. As part of the deal, Fortuna used 30% of its TV money to repay the loan. Fifteen percent of the club's TV money was used to repay the loan and another 15% was used as commission for Kölmel. The commission for Kölmel, which was described by Exec Chair Dirk Kall as "indefinite" at the club's annual meeting in April '10, "reportedly has an option to make it final." To get out of the commission payments, the club "would have to pay more than" €10M ($13M) to Kölmel (DER WESTEN, 4/25).