New DFB director: Völler is looking for proximity to the people

As of: 01/20/2023 7:39 p.m

Rudi Völler has once again been chosen. As director at the DFB, he wants to bring the national team forward by bringing them closer to the people.

At the very idea of ​​reprimanding a federal minister twelve days before the official start of work, someone from the German Football Association (DFB) who, according to President Bernd Neuendorf, is very keen on maintaining political ties, has to have the courage to do so.

A Rudi Völler, who is known to only exist once, dares to do that. “Our interior minister should also have left one or the other behind,” said the future director of the DFB, who will be responsible for the senior national team and the men’s U21s . He addressed Nancy Faeser, who was sitting next to President Gianni Infantino at the World Cup in Qatar with the much-discussed “One Love” armband, whose world association FIFA had banned that armband because of the allegedly political message.

Interior Minister Faeser would have “better arranged it differently”

“Bernd (Neuendorf) and the DFB” also knew that this should certainly have been regulated better and differently, said Völler, who was presented at the association’s headquarters on Friday (January 20th, 2023).

In principle, however, he wants to look ahead, because the 2024 European Championship in Germany is the main reason why he allowed himself to be persuaded again to take up a job with the DFB.

According to Völler, the atmosphere around the national team must be lifted significantly before the “home EM”. He then outlined the plan: “The basis of everything is the national players, the national coach, that we sell ourselves well in sport, but also give ourselves closer to the people in the run-up.” “One will see” what “closeness to the people” will look like. This will also apply to “some things” that Völler believes he can “pass on” to national coach Hansi Flick and the national players.

The new director emphasized several times that it would be difficult to beat the drums, also because “until then we only have test games”. The first two are due at the end of March.

All eyes on Völler

Rudi Voller is back. As a player with the national team he was world champion in 1990, as a team boss he came second at the 2002 World Cup in Japan and South Korea. He also got that job because “all of a sudden everyone looked at him”.

In the year 2000 it was necessary to find a successor for Erich Ribbeck after the catastrophic EM. Völler was on the selection committee, which saw it as a formality to hire Christoph Daum as the new national coach. But Bayer Leverkusen only released it from 2001, so a temporary solution had to be found. After lengthy discussions, eyes turned to Völler, who hesitated, but then agreed and ultimately stayed three years longer than planned because Daum left because of his cocaine affair.

“Rudy is ideal”

In December 2022, after the preliminary round at the World Cup, a task force was formed which, among other things, had the task of finding a successor for the retired managing director Oliver Bierhoff at the DFB. Once again, member Rudi Völler became the chosen one.

According to Hans-Joachim Watzke, he had that in mind early on. “Rudi, that would actually be something for you,” he thought, said the multi-functionary (Head of the German Football League Supervisory Board, thereby 1st Vice President DFB, Managing Director Borussia Dortmund), who has risen to become the most powerful man in German football. In the course of the next few days, he “could have guessed that Bernd (Neuendorf) also thought it was quite good”.

Watzke brushed aside the criticism that Völler, at 62, like other members of the task force, was too old for a fresh mood in and around the national team. “There is no such thing as young or old. There is only good or bad. Rudi is ideal.”

ARD expert Schweinsteiger: “Excellent choice”

ARD expert Bastian Schweinsteiger sees it that way: “Rudi Völler is an excellent choice, very experienced and confident in all areas of professional football. And he will hit the right note, even towards national players, if he doesn’t like something, and that can then become clear with him. That’s why Rudi Völler is the right person, also with regard to the EM 2024 in Germany.”

Task force continues to meet

The task force, which, in addition to Neuendorf, Watzke and Völler, also includes Karl-Heinz Rummenigge (former CEO FC Bayern Munich), Oliver Kahn (current CEO FC Bayern Munich), Matthias Sammer (external advisor to Borussia Dortmund and confidant of Watzke) and Oliver Mintzlaff (Red Bull , formerly RB Leipzig) will continue their work even after the most urgent task has been completed.

With “one or the other idea” the committees of the DFB would be “stressed” in the coming months.

Source: sportschau.de

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