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Reinhard Grindel has grown quiet since he resigned as DFB president with immediate effect on April 2, 2019 and after three years.
The 59-year-old’s downfall was a luxury watch valued at 11,000 euros, given to him by a Ukrainian oligarch for his birthday. There were reports of corruption.
Shortly afterwards, the former member of the Bundestag (CDU) also resigned from his posts at UEFA and FIFA. Grindel, whose Rotenburg home was searched by tax investigators in the course of a tax raid on the DFB in early October, experienced the World Cup debacle in Russia firsthand and extended contracts with the national team manager. national Oliver Bierhoff (until 2024) and Joachim shortly before the tournament. Löw (until 2022).
TO SPORT1 explains the background.
SPORT1: Mr. Grindel, Joachim Löw remains in office as national coach. How do you rate the result of the national coaches summit on Monday?
Reinhard Grindel: Two weeks after the 0: 6 against Spain, the DFB Presidium announced almost exactly what Oliver Bierhoff had said a quarter of an hour after the end of the match in Seville. In this sense, it is not the commitment to Joachim Löw that irritates me, but a two-week debate in the DFB, from which not all those involved are reinforced.
Grindel: “We are in an exceptional situation”
SPORT1: Are you still a fan of the national team?
Grindel: Sure, of course. I watch all the games. I also keep informing myself of what is happening in the area and I am in private contact with some with whom I previously had official channels.
SPORT1: Do you think that staying with the national coach is the right thing to do?
Grindel: We are in an exceptional situation. The Spanish live it against Ukraine, Dortmund against Cologne, Bayern leave points against Bremen. In the question of the national coach you have to decide in longer lines. The decisive question is: Do I trust the national coach to shape the change and do you have the confidence of the team? Oliver Bierhoff affirmed both. In this sense, it is fair to wait at least for MS 2021 and give it full confidence until then.
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SPORT1: The DFB press release was free from criticism and many things were overlooked. Do you need more honest words to regain the trust of the fans?
Grindel: Fans can be sure that nothing will be overlooked internally. After the defeat to Mexico in the World Cup in Russia, we sat together with the delegation and Oliver Bierhoff for hours and analyzed the questions to which we gave clear answers after the tournament. I suppose that also happened after the game in Seville. We need normal gaming operations again to be able to fairly assess the work of the national coach.
Löw extension “no decision alone”
SPORT1: During your tenure before the World Cup in Russia, you extended your contract with Joachim Löw in early 2022. What were the reasons?
Grindel: We discussed this in detail with the Executive Committee and on the Executive Committee with Oliver Bierhoff, who is largely responsible for this issue. It was not a one-handed decision. But I am maintaining this contract extension because a major organizational reform took place in the DFB in spring 2018. What some people suppress today: Oliver Bierhoff became director of the national teams and world football. That’s why I needed a new contract at that time.
SPORT1:However, until now it was common for technical team and Bierhoff contracts to run in parallel.
Grindel: It is true. So our concern in spring 2018 was: if we only conclude a long-term contract with Oliver Bierhoff, no one will see that his role has changed. Instead, it would have been perceived as a vote of no confidence if we had not extended further with the technical team. We didn’t want such a superfluous debate before the World Cup. So we spoke to Oliver Bierhoff in the spring and asked ourselves: Do we trust Joachim Löw to make the change that definitely had to happen after the World Cup in Russia? At the time we were very impressed by the excellent job that Joachim Löw had done in the Confed Cup. Where he and a young team quickly formed a superior team that beat Mexico 4-1, to which we lost in the World Cup one year. after. We were confident that he would shape the change and that he would have the support of the team. That was intact then and I think it still is today.
SPORT1: With Oliver Bierhoff it lasted until 2024. With Joachim Löw only until 2022. Why?
Grindel: A contract for Joachim Löw until 2024 would have almost had the effect of a pension contract. This duration seemed too long to us. We have accepted the different terms of the contract. We could explain it with the fact that Oliver Bierhoff needs a longer contract as director, especially to build the academy.
Grindel: “No journalist knows about Löw’s contract”
SPORT1: Would a premature separation from the national coach cost the DFB dearly? There is talk of a severance pay of eight million euros.
Grindel:No journalist knows of Joachim Löw’s contract. Therefore, no one should argue that the DFB cannot afford to fire a coach for financial reasons. That’s absurd! Sports reasons are always decisive.
SPORT1:Do you think Joachim Loew will fulfill his contract?
Grindel:I don’t want to or will speculate on that.
SPORT1:What is their current impression of you?
Grindel:I knew him as a person who does not resist advice. He listens a lot to his surroundings, his coaching staff and his adviser and also takes the opinions of Bundesliga coaches very seriously. I believe that the defeat in Spain will give him more determination and he will follow his line constantly. At this point I would like to refer to Jérôme Boateng, Mats Hummels and Thomas Müller.
SPORT1:We would have talked about it anyway …
Grindel defends his position in Hummels, Boateng and Müller
Grindel:After the World Cup, we lost 3-0 to these players in the Nations League in a disastrous game in Amsterdam. Half a year later we won 3-2 in the same stadium without the three players. Everything that Löw imagines conceptually cannot be said to be wrong. Now he needs some time to be able to train with the team in peace. At Herzogenaurach in MS, the framework conditions will be significantly better than at the Moscow World Cup.
SPORT1: To return to the retired trio. Do you think it would be right for you to continue to abstain from nominations?
Grindel:Basically, it’s important to develop a team for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar and see who you need in a well-rehearsed unit. In the offensive area there is a wider selection and therefore more opportunities to bet on the youth. I do not consider Joachim Loew to be dogmatic. If injuries or other circumstances in central defense make it necessary to reconsider decisions before the 2021 European Championship, it certainly will. Currently it is not necessary to do so. Also for parties like the one in Holland.
Grindel: It’s not fair to assess the pandemic turmoil
SPORT1:Did the upheaval that started during your tenure fail?
Grindel:In the current pandemic situation, I do not consider it fair to give a final assessment of whether the upheaval has been successful or not. If only because of an incredible burden on the players. After the 2021 European Championship, you will be able to tell if you are on the right track for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. I always thought it was correct to think from one World Cup to another. That is why we started the change. That has to be the benchmark. In 2021 we need a good team in MS. There must be a development there. We can only say after the World Cup in Qatar if the agitation has been successful. We have to be able to play again for the title. That must be the goal.
SPORT1:How do you rate the work of your successor Fritz Keller?
Grindel:In politics, from which I come as you know, there is the principle: they do not comment on their successors. I stay with that.
SPORT1:Philipp Lahm recommends himself with critical statements for higher tasks. Do you trust him one day to take over as president of the DFB?
Grindel:I have always heard from him that he thinks the role of Managing Director of DFB EURO GmbH is so fantastic that he has no more ambitions.
SPORT1:Is there a lack of loyalty in the DFB? They resigned in 2019 because of the watch scandal.
Grindel:I don’t want to feel sorry for myself right now. The office of president is difficult. Everyone with responsibilities in the DFB must do their part to ensure that this difficult position does not become even more difficult. That is important for the reputation in the world of football.
