The day after, there was paralysis in the Frankfurt DFB headquarters. After all, new developments in the business affair surrounding the work of media consultant Kurt Diekmann are slowly turning a controversial suspicion into certainty: In addition to the previously described communication work for new DFB projects from April 2019, which was not comprehensible for two auditor staff, the news trader has also completely other activities unfold: in the confidential association policy. And that at a point in time before he was given a contract worth 360,000 euros, whose meaningfulness has not yet been revealed to anyone.
According to the new files, Diekmann already had a knowledgeable response catalog from the DFB to a comprehensive request from the magazine at the beginning of February 2019 The mirror processed. The DFB does not want to deny or comment on the facts in response to a specific request; Diekmann also only lets it be known that he does not comment on “business transactions, contractual partners, processes and demands” in principle. This brings clear indications on the table that the media agent has also performed the most confidential, previously secretive tasks in the German Football Association. Which in turn puts the then top trio around today’s interim boss Rainer Koch, treasurer Stephan Osnabrügge and the general secretary Friedrich Curtius, who resigned in June, under pressure to explain. Because at that time someone definitely did not know about Diekmann’s discreet DFB services: President Reinhard Grindel. After numerous revelations, he resigned in April 2019: six months after Diekmann emailed his business partners to the news magazine that “P-dismantling” had begun; What was meant was the dismantling of President Grindel, and concrete information about his various incomes followed. Then, a few days before Grindel’s resignation, the news dealer reported in an email that one mirrors-Inquiry that the “Grinch” got caught like a “large caliber volley”.
So it’s very piquant that, according to the files, he was already working for the Grindel-DFB at the time. And that he had also made a note of activities for the association: In a list of income and outstanding debts of his clients dated February 28, 2019, staggered claims to the DFB totaling 16,000 euros are noted. And according to the assignment, they had not yet been sent at the time. When asked, Diekmann stated that it was about “confidential business documents” that “illegally” could have left the business area of his clients.
Great unrest grows within the association. The affair is developing bit by bit, which is why some people are now finally pushing for clarity. And with more and more people there is a feeling that the top people affected by the DFB want to hide certain things. For Peter Peters and the German Football League (DFL), enough is enough. Peters, next to Koch interim president of the DFB, wants to heave all the open questions about Diekmann’s services onto the agenda of the next presidium meeting, and not be fobbed off with hints or excuses like that that the agent is just a spindle doctor, which is why his conduct of a certain secrecy need. From the DFB’s point of view, it is about 360,000 euros from charitable funds. And who knows, maybe there are other issues behind this mystery?
In this respect, Peters and the Profilager now also want to broadly discuss the final report of the internal audit committee. This committee has been investigating the previous questions about the consultancy contract for months with the help of the external auditing company Ebner Stolz. However, they all only checked the alleged services for the official contract (dated May 1, 2019) of the consultant, who was supposed to support two projects in the media: an investigation by the newly hired forensic company Esecon on the cooperation of the DFB with its long-term marketer Infront, as well as an in-depth study Examination of the 2006 World Cup affair.
In their final report, the auditors clearly state that they still have no clarity about Diekmann’s real services – the new findings did not even exist there. The fact that Peters now also wants to spread this paper could finally wake up the amateur camp that Koch has just put back together. In addition, the Audit Committee also wants to discuss the new issues for the committee at the next meeting – including possible consequences.
The new truss, which is supposed to hold the divergent forces in the amateur camp together until the early elections to the Bundestag on March 11, is called Bernd Neuendorf. And the former SPD politician is not considered to be a man who would fall into the arm of fellow party member Koch – this impression has been spreading rapidly among the state presidents for weeks. Neuendorf, it is reported from more and more conversations, could well imagine the much-vaunted departure into a new DFB era with Koch in an important role. Officially, the SPD man is keeping a low profile on the candidacy question, and he has long been hotly debated in association circles as the new president. Especially since Koch wrested a memorable declaration from the amateurs at the three-day session marathon in Hamburg last weekend: They only want to support one presidential candidate from among their number.
For knowledgeable observers, the next journey into a DFB future with familiar trains is looming. A carousel ride: Novice Neuendorf, only head of the Middle Rhine region since 2019 and without any insider knowledge in the giant association DFB, is to become president. The treasurer Osnabrügge, who is leaving the DFB, inherits his throne on the Mittelhein. And Koch’s job as the first Vice President Amateurs, which he has promised to release, falls to a representative of the Koch Southern Associations – like the loyal Vice President Ronny Zimmermann. Koch himself would continue to do the princely paid job on the Uefa board. But if the new Neuendorf or his confidante have important concerns, about personnel, association or business policy, they can turn to him with confidence.