Rainer Koch offers to withdraw from the Uefa Executive Committee
Rainer Koch reacts to his election defeat at the DFB Bundestag. The 63-year-old paves the way for new appointments at Uefa and his national association. This means that one of the most controversial top officials in German football is retiring.
Rainer Koch gives up – the official career of the controversial DFB mastermind is coming to an end after his personal punishment at the DFB Bundestag. Three and a half weeks after the failed re-election to the presidium of the German Football Association (DFB) in Bonn, the 63-year-old lawyer is drawing consequences from the surprising and deeply hurtful defeat against opponent Silke Sinning in Bonn.
“I myself will set my personal priorities in the future and return to my job at the turn of the year,” said Koch, who had recently stopped working as a judge in Munich because of the time-consuming offices in football, on Wednesday in a message from Bavarian football -Association.
Koch had already offered Uefa President Aleksander Ceferin and the newly elected DFB President Bernd Neuendorf his early withdrawal from the Executive Committee of the European Football Union immediately after the Bundestag. In addition, at the end of June he will no longer – as originally planned – run for another term as President of the Bavarian Football Association. He had already informed the BFV board of this decision on March 12th.
“There was no question for me that I would respect the result of the DFB Bundestag and in the interest of the BFV make my contribution to a quick change in the leadership of the association.” state associations. The post in Bavaria was always Koch’s power base.
Koch was perceived as a burden at the DFB
In an initial reaction, the DFB “acknowledged” Koch’s decision in an impartial manner. The situation will be discussed in the presidium and with the responsible authorities. One does not want to anticipate these consultations, it said on request.
As a long-standing first vice president, Koch played a role in the DFB, which was burdened by a number of affairs and presidential resignations, and which had recently brought him more and more criticism. Many delegates no longer wanted to start the new start in the DFB with the unencumbered newcomer Neuendorf (60) with Koch as a teammate. Neuendorf rated the votes in the Bundestag as “proof that democracy works in the association”.
Koch has also led the association three times as interim president, most recently after the resignation of Fritz Keller, with whom there had previously been a deep personal rift.
After Koch was voted out, Neuendorf, as a new, strong man, quickly focused on the top international positions at Fifa and Uefa. Germany is the 2024 EM host, so a German government member in the umbrella organization is particularly important.
150,000 euros a year from Uefa alone
Koch has been elected to the Uefa executive until spring 2025. The office is remunerated with over 150,000 euros annually. Peter Peters (59) represents the DFB on the FIFA Council. The former Schalke CFO had lost the presidential election against Neuendorf. Neuendorf announced a reassessment of the situation. “Rainer Koch and Peter Peters, our two representatives, clearly lost in the votes and no longer hold office on the Executive Committee.”
Koch has apparently recognized the signs of the times. He offered Ceferin and Neuendorf “to leave the Uefa Executive Committee as soon as my departure from this function is considered appropriate in the interests of the DFB and its new president as well as Uefa”. After announcing his decisions on Wednesday, he left for a Uefa meeting in Nyon, Switzerland. It could be one of his last Uefa business trips. Another German, former Bayern boss Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, is a member of the European Football Executive Committee as an ECA club representative.
The Uefa regulations stipulate that members of the executive committee must be president or vice-president of their national association. That’s why Koch’s re-election was so important. “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.” statutes Peters is said to be against renouncing his lucrative Fifa office.
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Koch was always the advocate of amateurs in the DFB. In the professional camp he had many opponents. The currently bad reputation of the association was linked in particular to his person. He himself felt like a victim of a public campaign.
There will also be a change of plan at the BFV Association Day at the end of June in Bad Gögging. “The BFV, as by far the largest state association, no longer has a representative on the 16-strong DFB executive committee. Under these circumstances, it is better for the BFV if I don’t run for a last time after 18 years – as I had planned for a long time,” said Koch.
