Katrien Meire

Katrien Meire
CEO of Charlton Athletic
Assumed office
January 2014
Personal details
Born Tongeren, Belgium[1]

Katrien Meire (born 1983/84)[2][3] is a Belgian lawyer who is currently the chief executive of Charlton Athletic. In 2016, Meire was awarded the Laureaten VRG-Alumniprijs.[4]

Early Career

Meire studied law at University of Leuven, completing her LLM in 2007. She continued her studies in Competition Law at University College London for a further year.[4][5] She has worked for law firms Olswang and Baker & McKenzie in the area of competition law, particularly mergers and acquisitions and cartels.[2][6]

Football

In 2011, Meire provided legal advice to Roland Duchâtelet, involving TV rights issues with Sint-Truidense V.V.; Meire is a supporter of Sint-Truiden.[1][2] Meire's involvement in football continued when she worked as the "Legal and International Relations Manager" for Standard Liège, another club owned by Duchâtelet.[7][8]

After Duchâtelet's purchase of Charlton Athletic in 2014, Meire was appointed as the Chief Executive of the club.[2][9] She is one of only a few female club executives; as of 2016, the only other females in English football club board rooms are Margaret Byrne, the chief executive of Sunderland, and West Ham vice-chairman Karren Brady.[2][10] Meire has said that she doesn't believe she is treated differently for being a female chief executive, adding that "people are quite receptive to the idea of a woman chief executive."[10]

During her time running Charlton, the club has undergone eight managerial changes[11] and been relegated to League One, the third tier of English football.[12]

Controversy

Supporters have been reported as being "in despair" at Duchâtelet and Meire's running of the club.[13] In September 2016, season ticket sales had fallen to 6,297, from 10,278 at the same time the previous year.[14] “Supporters will never take Meire seriously,” The Guardian quoted fanzine editor Rick Everitt as saying. “[She will] never be accepted, never be respected, never be believed.”[14]

In January 2015, Meire was confronted on a train about the appointment of manager Guy Luzon after Charlton lost 5–0 to Watford; Meire claimed that there were 20 applicants for the job, including former Charlton manager Alan Curbishley. After the incident, Meire said fans should "accept how we run the club".[15][16][17]

In February 2016, a fake document claiming that Meire had left the club was published by the Companies House website, amid protests against Duchâtelet's ownership and and her running of the club. The document was believed to have been created by a Charlton supporter and protester.[3][18][19]

In May 2016, Meire claimed she had received "extreme abuse" from Charlton fans, particularly after the club's relegation to League One for the 2016–17 season; some fans turned up to Meire's parents' house in Belgium, and she also claimed some supporters had committed criminal offences against her.[20][21] A few days beforehand, there had been protests aimed at Meire during Charlton's last match of the 2015–16 season.[22]

Meire was threatened with legal action in June 2016 after claiming a takeover bid brokered by a former chief executive of Charlton would lead to the club leaving its home, The Valley.[23]

References

  1. 1 2 "KATRIEN MEIRE, LE BRAS DROIT DE CHARME DE ROLAND DUCHÂTELET, SE CONFIE: "J'AI DÛ LICENCIER DES GENS, ET CE N'EST PAS AGRÉABLE"". Sud Info (in French). 24 September 2014. Retrieved 19 June 2016.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Wilson, Bill (10 September 2014). "Charlton boss Meire part of select female football club". BBC News. Retrieved 19 June 2016.
  3. 1 2 "Charlton concern after resignation of chief executive is falsely posted". The Guardian. 9 February 2016. Retrieved 19 June 2016.
  4. 1 2 "Laureaten VRG-Alumniprijs" (in Dutch). VRG Alumni. Retrieved 20 June 2016.
  5. ↑ "Katrien Meire". Bloomberg. Retrieved 20 June 2016.
  6. ↑ De Herdt, Jeroen; Kerremans, Johan (July 2013). Wet & Duiding Sport (in Dutch). Primento. Retrieved 20 June 2016.
  7. ↑ "Choisie par Duchâtelet pour gérer Charlton, Katrien Meire répond aux questions qui dérangent". RTL Group (in French). 24 September 2014. Retrieved 20 June 2016.
  8. ↑ "Takeover: CAFC Board All Change – Katrien Meire is latest Director". Charlton Athletic Supporters trust. 10 January 2014. Retrieved 20 June 2016.
  9. ↑ "Bogus documents announce Charlton chief's resignation". The Wharf. 11 February 2016. Retrieved 19 June 2016.
  10. 1 2 Bose, Misir (25 March 2015). "Katrien Meire: I've had frightening abuse from Charlton fans… but I love leading role". London Evening Standard. Retrieved 20 June 2016.
  11. ↑ "Charlton Athletic appoint Russell Slade as manager after Championship relegation". BBC Sport. 6 June 2016. Retrieved 29 September 2016.
  12. ↑ "Charlton Athletic relegated to League One after draw at Bolton". The Guardian. 19 April 2016. Retrieved 29 September 2016.
  13. ↑ "Is Roland Duchâtelet leading Charlton into the valley of no return?". The Guardian. 1 January 2016. Retrieved 29 September 2016.
  14. 1 2 "Charlton aiming to rise again against backdrop of fury and boycotts". The Guardian. 8 September 2016. Retrieved 29 September 2016.
  15. ↑ "Belgische CEO Charlton in pittige discussie met misnoegde fans op trein". Het Laatste Nieuws (in Dutch). 18 January 2015. Retrieved 19 June 2016.
  16. ↑ Newman, Benjamin (18 January 2015). "Charlton's CEO Katrien Meire confronted on the train by an Addicks fan over Guy Luzon appointment". 101 Great Goals. Retrieved 19 June 2016.
  17. ↑ Muro, Giuseppe (15 January 2015). "Charlton chief executive Katrien Meire: Fans must accept how we run club". London Evening Standard. Retrieved 19 June 2016.
  18. ↑ Patterson, Mike (10 February 2016). "Charlton investigate Katrien Meire 'resignation' document". Sky Sports. Retrieved 19 June 2016.
  19. ↑ Terreur, Kristoff; Lambrechts, Kasper (9 February 2016). "Boze Charlton-fan vervalst ontslagbrief Katrien Meire". Het Laatste Nieuws (in Dutch). Retrieved 19 June 2016.
  20. ↑ Rumsby, Ben (12 May 2016). "I have suffered extreme abuse, says Charlton executive Katrien Meire". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 19 June 2016.
  21. ↑ "Charlton Athletic chief executive hits out at fans who 'cross line' in protests". The Guardian. 12 May 2016. Retrieved 19 June 2016.
  22. ↑ "Charlton fans make their point with inventive banner aimed at owners". Eurosport. 7 May 2016. Retrieved 19 June 2016.
  23. ↑ "Peter Varney considering legal action against Charlton chief executive Katrien Meire". News Shopper. 10 June 2016. Retrieved 30 September 2016.

Template:Meire constantly criticised by fans, U.K. Press and footballing experts

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