The election of the new DFB president on March 11 is decisive for the current dispute. Two candidates are facing each other: Peter Peters, a long-time DFL official and with the backing of the professional camp, and Bernd Neuendorf, who has broad support in the amateur football camp and is attested by interim president Rainer Koch. But the support for him crumbled, at least in one association.
In Hesse, the board of directors decided on Neuendorf in the autumn, but two members later backed out: Silke Sinning, chairwoman of the women’s and girls’ football committee, and treasurer Ralf Viktora sided with opponent Peters. In his team, they should now run for offices in the DFB.
Both are clearly against Rainer Koch
The two explained their decision in mid-January in an interview with Sport-Bild. “The unity of amateur football cannot consist in the fact that in every national association it is stipulated from above that the delegates have to vote for this or that presidential candidate because that is the one we have looked at now – without knowing any content or programs “said Victoria. Both made it clear that a new start with interim president Rainer Koch was not possible from their point of view.
The HFV immediately responded with an official statement and distanced itself from the statements made by the two. Your candidacy was not done in consultation with the Hessian association, it says. The HFV spoke out in favor of Neuendorf as President and Rainer Koch and Ronny Zimmermann as Vice Presidents.
Association fears “isolation in the amateur camp”
Apparently, it didn’t stop with public distancing. The Internet portal Torgranate quoted from an email from HFV President Stefan Reuss to the board just three days later. He showed the two two options to “prevent further damage from and the isolation of the association in the amateur camp”: either renouncing the candidacy or resigning from the offices in Hesse. Sinning and Viktora would therefore have until January 31 for one had explanation.
On that very day, an interview with the two and presidential candidate Peters appeared in kicker. “We want a different work culture than that for which Rainer Koch stands. And interdisciplinary thinking. In my view, that is difficult to solve with him,” Sinning repeated. The renegades apparently do not deviate from their position even after pressure from their own association.
Peters wants to get DFL to help
According to several insiders, the wording of the email from the top of the association is genuine. There was an ultimatum, but so far it has expired without consequences. The association is annoyed that the two changed sides after a common line in the fall and, contrary to earlier assurances, are themselves striving for DFB offices. When asked by hr-sport, the HFV said: “Bernd Neuendorf’s support for the election as DFB President was made jointly and after careful consideration. It is a strength to appear as a unified association and we want to continue to do so in the future.”
However, Sinning and Viktora insist on their free decision and that they communicated their move to Peters internally at an early stage, directly in December. Both do not want to comment on an ultimatum or the current upheavals when asked. So are the “apostates” threatened with expulsion from the presidium in Hesse? The HFV statutes do not clearly regulate the reasons for dismissal by the Executive Committee or the Supervisory Board. An extraordinary association day would have to decide.
How could the situation escalate?
However, the question of a nomination for the DFB election remains open if the Hessian association does not nominate both. Presidential candidate Peters has already stated that if he is not nominated, he would ask the German Football League to propose Viktora and Sinning in the second ballot. The DFL also has those powers – there is even the possibility that another state association will take over the nomination.
And another point seems remarkable: Viktora and Sinning had probably already informed the HFV of their plans in December, but the Hessian association only tightened the tone in mid-January. It seems as if the possible candidacies were not the trigger, but the public criticism of the two of the previous and current DFB leadership – and Rainer Koch in particular.
Source: HR