Cook off at the DFB!
The controversial top official Rainer Koch (63) is no longer part of the DFB presidium. The long-time vice-president lost to Silke Sinning (42) in the elections of the German Football Association on Friday in Bonn.
As the previous 1st Vice President, Koch had led the association on an interim basis three times in the past few years, after Wolfgang Niersbach, Reinhard Grindel and, most recently, Fritz Keller, each resigned prematurely from the office of President.
Sinning belonged to the team of Peter Peters, who was defeated in the previous election of the new DFB President. Nevertheless, the sports scientist with a doctorate competed against Koch and won the vote with 163:68 votes. This ends Koch’s 15-year term in the DFB presidium. However, as a representative of the South German Football Association, he will continue to sit on the association’s board of directors.
“I didn’t expect this result at all. I wanted to show courage. Thank you very much for your trust,” said the visibly touched Sinning. In her application speech, she aggressively campaigned for her election and received a lot of applause for it.
Koch, on the other hand, mainly referred to previously made agreements and also expressed criticism of the rival, which was not well received by a number of delegates. The longtime vice president had recently been attacked more and more violently for his role in the DFB crises and was seen by many as no longer tenable to pull the strings in the power struggles behind the scenes.
