May 4 – Pressure is mounting daily on German FA boss Fritz Keller to resign for comparing his DFB deputy with infamous Nazi judge Roland Freisler, plunging the hierarchy of German football’s administration into fresh chaos reminiscent of past scandals.
Keller has admitted he made a “serious mistake” but that may not be enough to save him, with the case now to be heard at a special tribunal after regional associations, which run Germany’s semi-professional and amateur leagues, called for his departure.
Keller lost a vote of confidence among the regional associations over the weekend and has been “asked to step down from his position”. DFB general secretary Friedrich Curtius was likewise asked to vacate his role.
A statement from the DFB said that the “Freisler statement” had been discussed by its ethics committee, who “submitted the result … to the sports court (tribunal) for a decision.”
“The presidents of the state and regional associations of the German Football Association withdrew their confidence in President Fritz Keller at the extraordinary conference this weekend in Potsdam and asked him to step down from his position,” the DFB added.
The turmoil comes after Keller likened DFB vice-president Rainer Koch to Freisler, the infamous head of the Nazi party’s court in the 1940s. Freisler was also a participant at 1942’s Wannsee Conference, where it was decided that 11 million Jews should be sent to death camps.
His remark triggered a storm of criticism and Keller has since apologised to Koch, acknowledging that his words were “totally inappropriate, notably towards the victims of Nazism”.
But he ruled out stepping down over the incident and Koch has not yet said that he has accepted the apology.
In a statement, the leaders of the DFB’s five regional and 21 state associations called Keller’s Nazi reference “completely unacceptable” and said they condemned it “in the strongest possible terms”.
“The president’s comments are incompatible with the principles and values of the associations,” they added. “The regional and state associations of the DFB stand for a democratic, tolerant and diverse society.”
Keller was regarded as a much-needed safe pair of hands when he took over the DFB in September 2019, after Reinhard Grindel was forced to step down following in the footsteps of Wolfgang Niersbach and Theo Zwanziger. His remarks were all the more unfortunate since Koch sits on the UEFA executive committee.
Grindel was forced out after accepting a luxury watch amid allegations of undeclared earnings and general discontent with his leadership. Before him, Niersbach and Zwanziger were forced to quit amid allegations of corruption concerning Germany’s 2006 World Cup bid.
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