New DFB boss ‘worried’ about future of German football

Incoming German Football Association (DFB) boss Rudi Voeller said on Friday he was “worried about the future of football in the country,” promising changes in the way the game is run. 

Voeller, who won the World Cup with West Germany in 1990, was appointed to “lay the foundations for a successful home European Championship in 2024”, the DFB said on Thursday evening.

Speaking at his unveiling on Friday, Voeller, who admitted he “didn’t really want to do the job at the beginning”, said he believed the team could be successful at the Euros in 2024, but feared for the team’s chances in the medium term. 

“I’m totally optimistic that we can be successful with these players. What will be problematic is how it will be in six, eight or ten years,” the 62-year-old Voeller said. 

“We have a wonderful team for the next few years, but then I’ll be worried.”

Voeller criticised the current development set up, saying “training hasn’t been done in a way that really good players have been developed.”

Voeller has been in the sporting director role at Bayer Leverkusen for the best part of two decades and called upon Germany’s football clubs to take on a bigger burden in player development. 

“It’s not always the DFB’s fault. The clubs are also responsible.”

Germany, the four-time winners, crashed out in the group stages of the World Cup for the second time in a row in Qatar, leading team director Oliver Bierhoff to step aside in December.

Voeller also said he wanted to “win back spectators with good performances”. 

The normally football-mad German public did not get behind the team  at the Qatar World Cup, with TV networks recording record lows in ratings. 

Voeller will start his term on February 1.