Berlin – Rainer Koch disappeared through a side exit. After being voted out of the presidium of the German Football Association, which was like a punishment, the 63-year-old managed to shake hands with his challenger – and was gone. There was even more talk about the controversial top official after this remarkable DFB Bundestag on Friday in Bonn. Koch continues to sit on the Executive Committee of the European Football Union (Uefa). Can this go well?
“I would like to speak to Rainer Koch personally first,” said the new DFB President Bernd Neuendorf when asked about this area of tension. And: “We will analyze the game carefully and draw conclusions from it.”
Then the new Presidency met for its constitutive meeting. Not including Koch, who had served as interim president until Friday. The old profile of the permanent official had disappeared from the DFB website.
Five women in the new DFB presidium
“This is proof that democracy works in the association,” said Neuendorf about the votes in the Bundestag. He prevailed against Peter Peters in a secret ballot, Koch lost to Silke Sinning. And even during his irritating speech shortly before the election, it became clear that Koch had not expected Sinning to actually run. Five women sit on the new DFB executive committee: she, Donata Hopfen, Célia Šašić, Sabine Mammitsch and Heike Ullrich. “That’s a strong sign,” Sinning said.
Although Koch had no longer run for the post of 1st Vice President. But he had never left any doubt that he wanted to continue to be a member of the presidency as a simple deputy. This is also significant for his Uefa post. Uefa’s regulations stipulate that members of its top body must be president or vice-president of their national association. “If a member no longer fulfills this requirement during his term of office, he may continue to hold the position of Executive Committee member for the remainder of his term of office, unless his association asks Uefa to remove him from office,” according to the statutes. Koch is elected until 2025, the seat, which is paid for over 150,000 euros, is not automatically reserved for a German candidate.
“We will have to discuss the issue in the presidium,” said Neuendorf. One of his predecessors, Reinhard Grindel, became more explicit. “I congratulate Bernd Neuendorf from the bottom of my heart. After the course of the Bundestag, he should now also represent the DFB in the Uefa Exko.” In 2024 Germany will host the European Championship. As of today, the DFB would then be represented in Uefa by an official who was no longer wanted by the delegates of the Bundestag.