Roland Auschel Head of Region Europe

Herzogenaurach, November 23rd, 2001 - Effective January 1st, 2002, adidas-Salomon AG has appointed Roland Auschel (38) as Head of Region Europe for brand adidas. In his new position Roland Auschel will be responsible for the entire adidas business in the largest region for brand adidas: Europe, Middle East and Africa. Currently Roland Auschel holds the position of Head of Area Central that combines the adidas businesses in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. With this appointment, adidas-Salomon has completed its top management team covering all its brands, as well as its regions and markets world-wide. Michael Rupp (41), currently Head of European Sales and Logistics for the adidas brand, will take over the position of Head of Area Central, the top performing Area in Europe.

Roland Auschel brings along thirteen years of adidas experience in Marketing and Sales to this newly established position. In recent years, Roland Auschel has headed up the successful reorganisation of adidas Austria, steered the adidas sales and logistics activities as Sales Director Europe and, since the beginning of 2001, led the foundation of the newly established Area Central. In his new role, Roland Auschel will report directly to Herbert Hainer (47), Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of adidas-Salomon AG, who had temporarily carried out the role of Head of Region Europe.

Michael Rupp also draws on long experience at adidas. From 1987 to 1994 he already held various positions in the German sales organisation and European Key Account Management. From 1995 to 2000 he led the adidas Middle East organisation as Managing Director out of Beirut, Lebanon. In this period, he succeeded in expanding adidas' market share in this area. As Head of Area Central, Michael Rupp will hold the position of Managing Director of adidas Germany, adidas Austria and adidas Switzerland. He will report to Roland Auschel.

Herbert Hainer: "Region Europe is of essential importance for the success of our company. This region is our homebase and we are leading the European market. With Roland Auschel heading our efforts in this important region, we intend to further strengthen and expand our Number One position. The same goes for Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Michael Rupp and his team will continue the area integration process in order to deliver top performance in these three markets."