Germany’s Koch steps aside for France’s Le Graët to have clear run at FIFA Council seat

December 12 – The German FA vice-president Rainer Koch will not run for a seat on the FIFA Council, the DFB announced on Thursday. His candidacy has been withdrawn in favour of the president of the French Football Federation (FFF) Noël Le Graët.

“The DFB and the French Football Federation maintain a close relationship, and with a view to the Franco-German friendship and respect for Noël Le Graët and his services to football, it was clear to me to give up my candidacy,” said Koch in a DFB statement.

The president of the FFF  took the seat of former DFB president Reinhard Grindel, who resigned in April from all his football functions after coming under pressure over allegations of undeclared earnings and the receipt of a luxury watch. Grindel resigned as president from the DFB and a week later also stepped down from his roles as UEFA vice-president and FIFA Council member.

Le Graët has announced that he wants to continue to run for election in March next year, contrary to what he had intended. With Koch withdrawing, Le Graët is the only candidate for Europe’s place in the FIFA Council, but DFB president Fritz Keller has stressed that it remains “the goal of the DFB to be represented in the Council of the world federation in the future.”

Koch will still stand for a seat on the UEFA Executive Committee.

Contact the writer of this story, Samindra Kunti, at moc.l1711713103labto1711713103ofdlr1711713103owedi1711713103sni@o1711713103fni1711713103