UEFA Congress in Lisbon
Neuendorf’s FIFA goals: transparency and respectful interaction
DFB President Bernd Neuendorf. photo
© Arne Dedert/dpa
DFB President Bernd Neuendorf looks at the post at FIFA with respect. The difficulties with the world association are having an effect. The association “still has weight,” says the 61-year-old.
DFB President Bernd Neuendorf is standing for election to the Council of World Football Association FIFA with clear goals.
“I stand up for more transparency and for comprehensible decision-making processes,” said the 61-year-old of the German Press Agency before the Congress of the European Football Union UEFA (from 10 a.m. CEST) in Lisbon. Neuendorf is unopposed for a seat on the FIFA body.
At the World Cup in Qatar at the end of 2022, there was clear disagreement between the DFB and FIFA President Gianni Infantino, and at the FIFA Congress in Kigali, the association refused to support the Swiss in his re-election. One point of criticism from the DFB was the information policy of FIFA – including human rights issues.
“We are an important association and if we ask questions, we can expect to get answers from FIFA,” said Neuendorf. “We should treat each other in a way that is respectful and appropriate. I just missed that lately.”
No opponent for Watzke
DFL supervisory board chairman Hans-Joachim Watzke is unopposed for a post on the UEFA Executive Committee. The CEOs of Borussia Dortmund and Neuendorf each want to complete the last two years of their German predecessors’ terms of office. Peter Peters on the FIFA Council and Rainer Koch on the UEFA Exko had withdrawn from their posts in consultation with the DFB.
“We are one of the big associations, of course we closely monitor how the DFB is positioned in international bodies,” said Neuendorf. “We felt that in the last few weeks. We were the contact for many representatives of other national associations who got in touch and wanted to talk about the situation. It is important to many that the DFB is represented in these bodies.”
The president of the continental association is also elected at the meeting of the UEFA member associations. The incumbent Aleksander Ceferin from Slovenia has no opponent for a third term.