Booming music, confetti, hustle and bustle, cheers – and right in the middle Tatjana Haenni. Cheered on by thousands of fans, the professional soccer players from the New York club Gotham FC and Seattle OL Reign met world stars such as Bruninha, Rose Lavelle, Svava Rós Gudmundsdóttir and Jessica Fishlock on the pitch.
In the stands, Tatjana Haenni high fives with goalie legend Ashyln Harris and talks shop with football icon Carli Lloyd, one of Gotham FC’s investors.
Haenni has made a name for himself in the football scene
Tatjana Haenni knows everyone in world football and everyone knows her. At the beginning of the year, the 56-year-old from Bern was appointed sports director of the booming National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL).
Legend: Haenni in her youth. Private
«Tatyana is a super woman. She was our preferred candidate, »says Haenni’s new boss, league CEO Jessica Berman. “I sent her the job description and it came back full of corrections and adjustments. That’s when I knew: She’s the right one.”
“Promoted by Sepp Blatter, fired by Gianni Infantino”
Haenni, who grew up in Bern as the daughter of a Viennese mother and a Swiss father, only had football on her mind as a child. In 1984 she became a national team player and later founding president of FC Zürich Frauen.
For eighteen years she headed the women’s soccer department at FIFA, the world governing body. “There I did my best to professionalize women’s football,” she says.
“Sepp Blatter always had an open ear for me,” especially early in the morning. “Fortunately we are both early risers, I was always the first to go to his office.” The negative headlines about FIFA? “Sure, it’s no fun when your company gets talked about like that,” says Haenni.
“I kept asking myself the question: do I fit in here? And she always answered yes because I was sure I was doing something good. I was able to contribute a lot to the development of women’s football, worldwide. I knew what I was doing made sense, so I could look in the mirror every day.”
Sponsored by Blatter – then dismissed in January 2017 by his successor Gianni Infantino. How many others with her. “One morning I was told I had a few hours to clear my stuff – and then I had to go. That hurt me because the content of the dismissal was unfounded and unjustified. Nevertheless, I’m grateful for it today because I’ve got to know so many new things since then.”
FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023
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The Women’s World Cup will open on July 20, 2023 with New Zealand versus Norway. For the first time, the ninth edition of the “FIFA Women’s World Cup” will take place in New Zealand and Australia with 32 teams and a total of 64 games. Swiss radio and television will report extensively on the final round and show all matches live. In addition, football fans can follow all games on srf.ch/sport and in the SRF Sport App.
This would have given her the opportunity to make personal changes and develop professionally. “It’s also like this: In associations, work is becoming increasingly sport-political. It’s no longer about the actual work on the pitch. But I am a doer, I want to make a difference. In that sense, I can do more where I am now than at FIFA.”
Haenni has a lot of work to do in downtown Manhattan
Tatjana Haenni is now in the middle of New York, where the new offices of the NWSL looked like a construction site when Haenni arrived at the beginning of the year. The league had just moved from Chicago to Manhattan. But there is no trace of a leisurely start-up time. There is a lot to do from day one.
Legend: Haenni in her office in New York. SRF
Soccer, as football is called in the USA, is the most popular sport for girls. The best go directly from college to the NWSL. Players like Megan Rapinoe are figures of light far beyond the playing field, they get involved politically, are committed to equality and the rights of lesbian, gay and trans people.
The NWSL is thriving
The league is flourishing, new clubs are added every year: it takes around 100 million dollars to buy a team into the league. And it is mainly women who invest in women’s sport. In Los Angeles, for example, former tennis greats Billie Jean King and Serena Williams and Hollywood star Natalie Portmann finance Angel City FC.
Tatjana Haenni deals with people like them. She is in constant contact with the clubs and determines the sporting orientation of the NWSL. For this she left home and a secure job – without knowing exactly what she was getting herself into.
The last year brought big changes. My wife and I have separated and will be divorcing later this year.
Most recently, she was director of women’s football in the Swiss Football Association for four years. Haenni is considered the Swiss official with the greatest experience, the best contacts and the bravest ideas. She was also the impetus to bring the 2025 European Championship finals to Switzerland.
“My life has been turned upside down”
Not only professionally, New York means a new beginning for the 56-year-old. Tatjana Haenni is also starting a new life privately. She not only left her family and close friends behind, but also her marriage.
“Last year brought big changes. My wife and I have separated and will be divorced this year, »says Haenni in the kitchen of her apartment in Jersey City. That turned her life upside down.
However, tribulation is not her thing, Haenni tries to find positive things in the new situation: «For me, this is a great opportunity to advance not only professionally but also as a person. I sometimes have the feeling that I was restless in Switzerland and got distracted too quickly.” That is why it is her goal in the new home to come to herself more and to take it easy.
“This is Tatjana Haenni 2.0, so to speak”
What has not changed compared to her old place of residence in Zurich, where she lived in Seefeld: Haenni also lives near the water in the USA, right next to a small port. From the balcony of her apartment, the view stretches as far as the Statue of Liberty.
On a sunny spring afternoon, Haenni squints in the sun, raving about the residential location on this beautiful and quiet corner. At the same time she seems thoughtful, because she, the sociable woman with a lively exchange in Switzerland, is now alone in New York. The always sovereign boss suddenly brooding, the lute very quiet.
Legend: Haenni at the Rockefeller Center in New York. SRF
“I would be lying if I said there weren’t any difficult moments in the first six months. I always felt a certain heaviness and felt alone. »
It’s a complete fresh start.
As far as the separation from her wife is concerned, the distance helped and made it easier to leave the old behind. “It’s a complete fresh start.” And this at the age of 56.
Tatjana Haenni has arrived in New York, arrived in a new life. And a bit about yourself too. “That’s right,” she says and smiles, “this is Tatjana Haenni 2.0, so to speak.”
2023-06-28 15:32:00
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