There is a good bit of irony when Hans-Joachim Watzke complains about Germany’s role in international football: “We have worked hard in Germany for many years to ensure that we no longer have much influence.”
That’s why you shouldn’t be surprised that FIFA is now moving into many other areas, says the DFB vice-president: “European influence has continued to decline over the years, and German influence has already declined three times.”
Saudi investments in football: Watzke wants to use its own influence
FIFA has just announced a new World Cup of superlatives with six hosts on three continents. At the same time, the World Football Association is clearing the way for a Saudi application for the 2034 tournament. The Gulf country, which has just invested massively this summer and signed players for around 800 million euros.
“It’s not football that I like,” says Watzke in the interview of the week on Deutschlandfunk. “There are two options. You go to the internal immigration and say, I don’t want to have anything to do with any of that shit anymore.”
But that is not his approach; he would rather use his influence to limit these excesses. The BVB managing director has been a member of the UEFA Executive Committee since this year. An office that is paid royally, but is not subject to entertainment tax.
“Usually you have to do a 20-kilometer detour because you constantly have to make decisions where you always have to carefully weigh things up, and in the end you always end up getting kicked in the face for it.”
51:49 decision to admit Russian youth teams
Just like a few days ago, when Watzke voted in UEFA to allow Russian youth teams back into European competitions. Not an easy decision, admits the BVB managing director.
“It was a 51:49 decision,” but in the end he made it in favor of the Russian team. “If we now deny children and young people such international games, who benefits from that? Does this benefit any child in Ukraine?”
Harsh criticism is not only coming from Ukraine; some other European associations want to boycott games against Russian teams, not the DFB. Nevertheless, it is clear that the condemnation of the Russian war of aggression will not be shaken.
“But that is also the absolute firewall. This is an issue everywhere right now, fire walls are modern now.”
In this case, firewall means: Russia cannot count on Watzke’s support for teams in the adult sector: “I am no longer prepared to make a single compromise, that is clear. I can be stuck with it for the next few years.”
Watzke: “I am very afraid for the cohesion of our society”
But not only the firewall has made it from politics to football, but also the word “turning point”. Philipp Lahm, tournament director of the upcoming home European Championships, uses this term in an article in Kicker. Lahm hopes that the European Championship will be a turning point for nothing less than Europe and society. DFB vice-president Watzke thinks this is “perhaps a bit excessive”.
Nevertheless, it is important to him that Germany presents itself well at the European Championships and means both the sporting performance and the role of host. Like Lahm, Watzke hopes for the oft-invoked power of football to unite society.
“I am very afraid for the cohesion of our society. I think that there has never been as little of it as there is now, and maybe we can use something like that again to bring everyone together behind a common event.”
Hans-Joachim Watzke still believes that football and the national team under the new national coach Julian Nagelsmann can develop this power and charisma and trigger enthusiasm in Germany.
“If at some point we get to the point where there is not a single topic where the top 20 and bottom 20 percent of society can still discuss it without ideology, then society has lost.”