Wednesday April 28, 2021
Not only outraged Nazi comparison
Keller provokes the DFB showdown
The unworthy Nazi comparison could bring down Fritz Keller. As DFB President, he is no longer acceptable for many. The German Football Association has entrusted the ethics committee with the case. The basement case has long been just one of many annoyances in the association.
After Labor Day, Fritz Keller may have finished work. When the bosses of the 21 regional associations meet in Potsdam at the weekend, the future of the badly ailing DFB president is at stake. Keller’s opponents could use the precarious situation of their boss to force his fall from the top of the German Football Association (DFB) – the vote of confidence should be asked and an extraordinary Bundestag convened.
In any case, the statements of the cellar opponents Friedrich Curtius and Stephan Osnabrügge suggest that the president present in Potsdam should stumble in the direction of his deputy Rainer Koch over his unspeakable Nazi comparison. Keller’s behavior is “unacceptable and we therefore condemn it in the strongest possible way,” said the Secretary General and the Treasurer.
The Curtius and Osnabrügge, which are by no means undisputed at the base and are also expected in the Brandenburg capital, pointed out the further procedure for a reason. The process is “now in the hands of the ethics committee. We have great confidence that their decision will restore the credibility of the DFB”.
Explosive issue in the ethics committee
The ethics committee, which was turned on in the ongoing power struggle of the DFB top because of various incidents, is supposed to make a judgment. Curtius and Osnabrügge are apparently relying on the fact that the committee will find the cellar no longer acceptable because it compared Koch with the Nazi judge Roland Freisler. Keller has since apologized for this several times, but has ruled out a resignation.
The ethics committee does not want to comment on the procedure for the time being, board member Birgit Galley informed the SID. The composition of the commission, which, in addition to Galley, also includes Bernd Knobloch, Nikolaus Schneider and Irina Kummert, is a bit explosive. After the death of the chairman, Thomas Oppermann, the committee is provisionally headed by Knobloch. He is the son of Charlotte Knobloch, the former president of the Central Council of Jews in Germany.
The German-Jewish sports association made it clear what Makkabi Germany thinks of Keller’s statement. One was “dismayed”, said Makkabi – and strengthened Koch like numerous DFB regional associations before. The close cooperation with the DFB is based “above all on the longstanding relationship” with Koch, who is “a strong and honest partner”.
Who has to go, who can stay?
However, there is a big question mark behind Keller’s strengths – not only because of the efforts of his opponents, who see themselves confronted with massive allegations in other areas. The criticism from the regional associations, the distancing of the German Football League (DFL) and the resignation calls from parts of the media could ensure that Keller has to resign as the third DFB boss in a row.
With or without Keller’s resignation, there are many indications that a Bundestag will be convened in the summer. Numerous state associations are pushing for this, and they are fed up with the paralyzing Zoff at the top of the DFB. The delegates could then decide which top officials should be sorted out in order to finally pacify the association.
For Uwe Döring, the boss from Schleswig-Holstein, it is clear that “in this constellation – regardless of whether you work with or without Fritz – you can no longer work”. “For the DFB it is now a matter of the people currently belonging to the Presidential Committee having to ask the question of trust,” said the SHFV President to the SID: “Actually, we need a completely new management body. And then you have to look: Who is suitable?” No one seems to have the answer to this question at the moment.
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