Puma has appointed former German shoe retail chain Deichmann Managing Dir BJÖRN GULDEN as its CEO starting July 1. The 47-year-old is currently the CEO of Danish jewelry maker Pandora (SPIEGEL ONLINE, 4/18). A reshuffle at Pandora will see Chair ALLAN LEIGHTON, former chair of Royal Mail in the U.K., take over as the Danish group’s CEO. Puma’s majority owner, French luxury group PPR, had been searching for a CEO for the sports group since it decided to part company with FRANZ KOCH, who had been in the job for less than two years. Gulden played professional football for Bundesliga side FC Nuremberg, near Puma and adidas’ home town of Herzogenaurach. He was a senior exec at adidas before spending 11 years at Deichmann (FINANCIAL TIMES, 4/18). … Audi has appointed former F1 Race Engineer DIETER GASS as head of its German Touring Car Championship (DTM) program. The 50-year-old will be in charge of all eight Audi RS 5 DTM cars and report directly to Audi Motorsports Head WOLFGANG ULLRICH (DPA, 4/18). ... FC Barcelona President SANDRO ROSELL "expects to be standing for re-election" when members go to the polls in '16. Rosell: "My intention is to stand for reelection and ask the members to keep their confidence in my ability to deal with the challenges we have set ourselves" (FC Barcelona). ... Real Madrid President FLORENTINO PEREZ "is speculated to announce the club's presidential elections" after the Champions League semifinal." Perez "is understood to be seeking a second consecutive term in office and a fourth overall at the Santiago Bernabeu" (FOOTBALL ESPAŇA, 4/18).
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