DFB presidential candidate Peter Peters spoke more openly than ever before about the broken relationship with his fellow vice president Rainer Koch.
“I think the current approach is completely fine: he doesn’t want me, I don’t want him,” said Peters in an interview with the “Frankfurter Rundschau”. Peters and Koch have been leading the German Football Association together on an interim basis since the resignation of ex-president Fritz Keller in May 2021. Peters wants to succeed Keller at the DFB Bundestag on March 11 in Bonn.
“He seems angry with me because I positioned myself clearly against him,” said Peters (59). “But I think it’s much better that we discuss such issues in advance than recognizing after five months in office, as in the past: it’s not working again and we’re heading into the next disaster.”
“It makes no sense to continue working together in the future”
The former Schalke CFO is running in the election as a candidate supported by professional football against Bernd Neuendorf (60), the candidate from the amateur camp around Koch (63).
When asked why he didn’t trust Koch anymore, Peters replied: “Because we disagreed on important issues. For me it’s a question of culture. I stand for a different form of cooperation and decision-making. It doesn’t make sense to continue working together in the future if there is no trust. I’d rather point that out before the election than have problems again later.”
Peters currently represents the DFB in the council of the world association FIFA. Koch sits on the Executive Committee of the European Football Union UEFA, he had announced in the wake of the turmoil of Keller’s resignation that he would no longer run for 1st Vice President. Koch is still aiming for a seat on the DFB presidium.