Confused, Rainer Koch persevered to the bitter end, in the first row of the plenum, his gaze fixed on the stage, with the outgoing treasurer Stephan Osnabrügge as a comforter next to him. Then he disappeared without a word through a side exit of the Bonn Congress Center. The 63-year-old top official couldn’t believe what had happened: he, the perennial puller of the German Football Association, was no longer elected Vice-President at the DFB Bundestag on Friday. He had been flown out of the headquarters, in a high arc. It was the result of a very last feint that backfired – and a bizarre appearance that finally released all the reservations that were simmering against him within the association.
After a veritable series of affairs involving Koch over the past few months, there was a last-minute opponent at the football convention on Friday: Silke Sinning, a professor at the University of Koblenz-Landau. Curious: The sports scientist had been suggested by Koch’s Bayern association itself. This should send the message to the base and to the doubting public that Koch’s amateur columns in the powerful soccer south would not stand in the way of a democratic, secret election.
But castling turned out to be a huge mistake. Koch himself made that clear when he seriously explained to the plenary session that he was the one the southern German associations had proposed for this deputy function and that an election involves “keeping to agreements”. His oblique appeal: one may “confirm” him as DFB Vice or “not participate in the election”. That was too much even for the delegates. Grumbling protests broke out in the hall, shortly afterwards Koch’s heavy defeat (68:163) was complete.
Ended Rainer Koch’s time in the DFB presidium with her candidacy: the sports scientist Silke Sinning.
(Foto: Simon Hofmann/Getty Images for DFB)
Rarely has an official brought the lack of an understanding of democracy in sports politics so openly onto the stage as Rainer Koch has now. But what happened around his appearance shows that Koch is not alone in mastering the dubious art of pretending to be elections. He was supported until the end, also by an official who had been one of his closest allies for many years and was consequently allowed to inherit him from the Bundestag: the Baden football boss Ronny Zimmermann. He is the new amateur boss, one of the two top vice-presidents of the DFB, and he would be – Koch has lived through the scenario three times – even interim boss in the event that the new president Bernd Neuendorf resigns his office prematurely. In short, he is now one of the most powerful officials in football.
Silke Sinning was suggested “to refute allegations of undemocratic behavior” – but please not to vote for her
On the eve of the election, the leading amateur representatives received a letter signed by Zimmermann and three other presidents of southern German state associations (is available to the SZ). It was clearly laid out what Koch then demanded: Sinning, the paper says, was only suggested “to refute allegations of undemocratic behavior”. But: The board of directors of the southern German associations unanimously proposed Koch, who was supported by all these state associations. So the undersigned now ask all delegates of the German Football League (DFL) and the other regional and state associations “that we mutually respect our candidate proposals in the interests of good cooperation”.
In other words: we’re pretending to be a little democracy – for the skeptical public. But at the ballot box, everyone strictly adheres to the agreement that was worked out in a small circle! Whoever has such an understanding of democracy does not need elections.
The process shows how much clean-up work, but also how much rethinking is necessary in the new Executive Committee. The new President Neuendorf must show that he stands for an unencumbered new beginning. Virtually all top positions in German football have been filled: in addition to him and Zimmermann, there are treasurer Stephan Grunwald and the two DFL representatives Hans-Joachim Watzke and Donata Hopfen. But how much new beginnings this quintet brings about and how intensively it pursues the affair enlightenment, which the Koch conqueror Sinning has warned, that has to be shown. The first acid test is who will represent German football in the top international bodies.
At Fifa and Uefa, officials now represent the DFB who no longer belong to the presidency of the association
These posts, each endowed with around 200,000 euros a year, are now held by two officials who no longer sit on the DFB presidium: Koch as a board member in Europe’s football union Uefa, the failed Neuendorf challenger Peter Peters on the council of the world association Fifa. So far they have not had good standings there. What should you do there now without a DFB presidency mandate?
In addition, the Uefa post now has a special meaning – also from the point of view of the European association. Because the next EM 2024 will take place in Germany. At the Uefa headquarters in Nyon, some would prefer the DFB to send a new, really representative figure to the board, preferably the president himself. Koch was formally elected personally, but the DFB cannot simply change his appointment. But in fact yes: If the new leadership of the association wants a change, the regional president Koch from Bavaria could hardly refuse – not without starting the next scandal.
In this respect, the question now is: is Neuendorf loyal to the DFB and its EM 2024 future – or to Koch, who certainly played a significant role in his election? Immediately after the Bundestag, the new president did not want to commit himself, but at the press conference it was noticeable that he did not give a firm job offer. Neuendorf said he wanted to talk to Koch first: “I don’t think now is the right time to talk about who has what prospects in the DFB.” The rest was footballer language: “We will analyze the game carefully and draw conclusions from it.” However, the view now also falls on league representative Watzke: He should have a say in matters of Uefa and EM, for professional interests.
The new DFB leadership must make a quick decision. Only Congress can elect new members for the Uefa board. The next one is on May 11th in Vienna.
