November 2 – As German football authorities continue to come under pressure over the vote-buying slush fund allegations which they have strongly denied, a senior German politician has entered the debate by suggesting DFB president Wolfgang Niersbach should consider resigning.
Niersbach’s supporters have said in no uncertain terms that this will not happen but Ozcan Mutlu, sports policy spokesman for the Greens, spoke out as the crisis intensified over the weekend.
“If Niersbach is incapable of answering the many questions about all this, then suspicion will harden,” said Mutlu. “There must be consequences. The DFB must ask whether its president is still viable. I would say ‘Mr Niersbach, you should pave the way’.”
The DFB has launched its own investigation into a mystery payment of €6.7 million it paid to FIFA in 2005 that was allegedly used to repay a loan to the late Robert Louis-Dreyfus, former owner and CEO of Adidas, to finance a slush fund during the 2006 World Cup bid process.
German reports say Niersbach was invited to a private hearing of the Sports Committee of the Bundestag, Germany’s parliament, but turned it down.
Calling for the Prosecutor’s Office to get involved if the situation is not resolved satisfactorily, Mutlu was reported as saying: “The whole thing stinks. Within the last 14 days there has been no more light shed on it. In fact it has got even darker.”
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