DFB President Fritz Keller
Shortly after Fritz Keller left the DFB crisis summit in Potsdam through the back exit, the country leaders announced their verdict on the scandal surrounding the president's Nazi settlement. Keller should resign. The 64-year-old was deprived of confidence by the presidents of the state and regional associations during the conference, as DFB Vice President Ronny Zimmermann announced on Sunday. Keller's verbal derailment is “condemned in the strongest possible way.”
In the ongoing leadership dispute between Keller and his opponents, General Secretary Friedrich Curtius was also withdrawn from trust. Keller like Curtius asked for time to think about it. However, Keller's resignation seems inevitable. Treasurer Stephan Osnabrügge and Vice President Rainer Koch, however, said the trust was expressed in a secret vote, said Zimmermann. Koch was thus initially the big winner in the power struggle with Keller.
The public pressure on the DFB in its massive leadership and public image crisis had increased massively in the past few days. The 64-year-old Keller found himself in need of explanation after a Nazi settlement in a presidium meeting. He referred to Koch as “Freisler” and compared him to Roland Freisler, the chairman of the People's Court under National Socialism. Keller then apologized to Koch.
“Such a statement is completely unacceptable and makes us stunned,” announced the DFB as a result of the Potsdam conference. “The regional and state associations of the DFB stand for a democratic, tolerant and diverse society. The President's statement is incompatible with the principles and values of the associations.”
Curtius and Osnabrugge had sharply criticized Keller for the Nazi comparison. According to “Spiegel” Curtius reported the failure of the DFB boss to the association's ethics committee. The top of the association has been quarreling for a long time. For months, the camps around Keller and Curtius have faced each other almost irreconcilably. Numerous representatives of the state and regional associations had expressed their displeasure in a letter of protest.
With his Nazi settlement, Keller had scored a momentous own goal. Even as Freiburg President, the winemaker and restaurateur was known for his sometimes choleric outbursts. Internally, in a letter reported by “Bild am Sonntag”, the DFB works council criticized the association for giving a “disastrous picture” and calling for “trend-setting decisions”: structural as well as personnel consequences should not be ruled out.
