Wednesday May 12, 2021
Is Rummenigge rethinking now?
DFB boss without scandals, urgently wanted!
The German Football Association has to reposition itself. After Fritz Keller’s announcement of his resignation, a president is being sought again. At least there is no obvious successor solution yet. It will also be important whether the dispute between the amateurs and the professional can be resolved. The association had set the “course for a realignment of the DFB”, it said on Tuesday evening. The way is long – the next Ordinary Bundestag is expected to be held in early 2022.
What was the reason for Keller’s departure again? Keller, who had put himself on the sidelines due to his Nazi settlement, has “declared his general willingness” to resign on Monday, according to the DFB announcement. The 64-year-old succeeds Reinhard Grindel and Wolfgang Niersbach, who had also resigned because of missteps. Keller as the successor to Grindel was celebrated as a major solution in September 2019 – a momentous statement followed in April 2021. During a meeting of the presidium, Keller described his vice-president Rainer Koch as “Freisler” and compared him to Roland Freisler, the chairman of the People’s Court under National Socialism.
And who does it now? Lothar Matthäus had already named Karl-Heinz Rummenigge as a possible successor last week, also in cooperation with Rudi Völler. But the powerful Bayern boss had already given up. “I’m not looking for a job that equates to a hara-kiri action,” he said on Sky last Saturday. The name of Philipp Lahm, head of organization of the Munich European Championship games and the 2024 home tournament, should now also be mentioned. The anti-corruption expert Sylvia Schenk recently expressed interest. She is ready “with a team of independent people to bring the DFB into calm waters. Then you can elect a DFB president,” said the long-time sports official of the “Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung”. The amateur sports representative Ute Groth, who was not admitted to the election campaign against Grindel, does not seem averse. “I can already imagine – in the team. But what is important now is that there is a major renewal – in terms of personnel and structure,” said the 62-year-old of the “Augsburger Allgemeine”.
What will become of Rainer Koch? Koch will “no longer run for the office of 1st Vice President amateurs at the next Ordinary Bundestag”, announced the DFB – and at least left a little room for speculation as to whether Koch might be aiming for a post with a little less responsibility. First, he will lead the association on an interim basis together with Vice President Peter Peters, who has equal rights, as he did after Niersbach and Grindel. At that time together with the then DFL President Reinhard Rauball.
How is his support from the DFB? The 62-year-old has been a member of the Presidium since 2007, he has been head of the Bavarian Football Association since 2004 and President of the South German Association since 2011. The amateur representatives in the DFB had recently expressed their confidence in him in the course of the Nazi settlement, but anything but unanimous. An exchange of letters with DFL managing director Christian Seifert, on the other hand, revealed deep rifts between the two officials. Koch is considered an opponent of professional football. Koch currently seems difficult to place for the professional as DFB representative in UEFA for the next four years – especially since Rummenigge was recently also re-elected to the decision-making body. However, a DFB representative would not automatically move up for Koch. The post would initially be vacant, as was the case after Grindel’s resignation. From April 2019, the DFB did not have a seat in the UEFA Exko for almost a year.
And is there actually a strong woman at the DFB now? Friedrich Curtius will immediately follow Keller “after an agreement about the termination of his employment contract and the handover of his official business,” said the DFB. The 44-year-old is the highest full-time employee and responsible for the DFB headquarters, which will move to the new academy next year. Keller and Curtius have been the opponents in the ongoing dispute at the top in the past few months. After Curtius’ departure, the deputy general secretary Heike Ullrich will take over his business areas on a temporary basis. The permanent promotion of the qualified sports economist does not seem to be ruled out. When she was appointed deputy in the summer of 2020, Ullrich said: “I am very much looking forward to the task and see this decision as a clear signal that the DFB is also relying on female expertise on the path of renewal it has chosen.”
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