German Football Association (DFB) president Fritz Keller faces calls to resign after he sparked outrage by comparing his deputy to a Nazi judge.
Presidents of the DFB’s regional associations, which run Germany’s semi-professional and amateur leagues, announce after weekend crisis talks that Keller has lost a vote of confidence and has been “asked to step down from his position.”
DFB general secretary Friedrich Curtius is likewise asked to vacate his role after losing a confidence vote.
In this Saturday, Nov. 16, 2019 file photo, German football federation, DFB, president Fritz Keller stands on the tribune prior the Euro 2020 group C qualifying soccer match between Germany and Belarus in Moenchengladbach, Germany (AP Photo/Martin Meissner, file)
The turmoil comes after Keller in a recent meeting likened DFB vice president Rainer Koch to Roland 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 European Jews should be put to death.
The remark triggered a storm of criticism and Keller has since apologized to Koch, acknowledging that his words were “totally inappropriate, notably towards the victims of Nazism.”
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