German Football Association
UEFA | |
---|---|
Short name | DFB |
Founded | 28 January 1900Leipzig | in
Headquarters | Frankfurt |
FIFA affiliation | 1904 |
UEFA affiliation | 1954 |
President | Bernd Neuendorf |
Website | dfb.de |
The German Football Association (German: Deutscher Fußball-Bund [ˈdɔʏtʃɐ ˈfuːsbalˌbʊnt]; DFB [ˌdeːʔɛfˈbeː] ⓘ) is the governing body of football, futsal, and beach soccer in Germany. A founding member of both FIFA and UEFA, the DFB has jurisdiction for the German football league system and is in charge of the men's and women's national teams. The DFB headquarters are in Frankfurt am Main. Sole members of the DFB are the German Football League (German: Deutsche Fußball Liga; DFL), organising the professional Bundesliga and the 2. Bundesliga, along with five regional and 21 state associations, organising the semi-professional and amateur levels. The 21 state associations of the DFB have a combined number of more than 25,000 clubs with more than 6.8 million members, making the DFB the single largest sports federation in the world.
History
1875 to 1900
From 1875 to the mid-1880s, the first kind of football played in Germany was according to rugby rules. Later, association-style football teams formed separate clubs, and since 1890, they began to organise on regional and national levels.
1900 to 1933
The DFB (Deutscher Fußball-Bund) was founded on 28 January 1900 in Leipzig by representatives of 86 clubs. The vote held to establish the association was 62:22 in favour (84 votes). Some delegates present represented more than one club, but may have voted only once. Other delegates present did not carry their club's authority to cast a ballot. Ferdinand Hueppe, the representative of DFC Prague, was named its first president.[1] The DFB consolidated the large number of state-based German regional competitions in play for a single recognized national title for the season 1902/03. Germans were not present in Paris when FIFA was founded by seven nations in May 1904, but by the time the FIFA statutes came into effect on 1 September, Germany had also joined by telegram as the eighth nation. The German national team played its first game in 1908.
Before 1914, the
1933 to 1945
The role of DFB and its representatives like
Later, the
A new organization, Deutscher Reichsbund für Leibesübungen (German Reich League for Physical Exercise), was established and Linnemann was appointed leader of its Fachamt Fußball (Football section), which took over the operational affairs, whereas the DFB lost most of its duties until it was formally dissolved in 1940.
On the pitch, Germany had done well in 1934, but after a 0–2 loss to Norway in the quarter finals of the 1936 Summer Olympics, with Adolf Hitler attending, the DFB and football fell from grace. Reichsjugendführer Baldur von Schirach and the Hitler Youth took over youth football (under 16) from the clubs following a deal with Reichssportführer Hans von Tschammer und Osten, who had been in charge of all sports in Germany since 1933, making DFB officials even more powerless. Germany had made a bid to host the 1938 World Cup, but it was withdrawn without comment.
Following the
. During the war, Germany played international games until 1942.1945 to 1963
In the aftermath of World War II, German organisations were disbanded by the allies. FIFA decided in November 1945 to ban the no longer existing DFB (and Japan's football association) from international competition, while the Austrian association was re-founded. Internationally, Germans were still represented, with Zürich-based Ivo Schricker serving as General Secretary of FIFA from 1932 to December 1950. In 1948, Switzerland requested FIFA to lift the ban on games against Germans, but this was denied. Swiss clubs played German clubs anyway, but had to cease doing so due to international protests. This was only changed in 1949 when The Football Association requested FIFA to lift the ban on club games. FIFA did so on 7 May 1949, two weeks before the Federal Republic of Germany was founded, thus games required permission by the military governments of the time. Due to partition into several occupation zones, and states, the DFB was legally re-founded in Stuttgart on 21 January 1950 only by the West German regional associations, without the Saarland Football Association in the French occupied Saarland, which on 12 June 1950 would be recognized by FIFA as the first of three German FAs after the war. At the FIFA congress held on 22 June prior to the 1950 FIFA World Cup in Brazil, the Swiss Football Association requested that the DFB be reinstated with full FIFA membership, which was granted on 22 September 1950[11] in Brussels. Thus, Germany was excluded from the 1950 FIFA World Cup and could resume international games only in late 1950.
In the early years of the
The teams of the DFB and the Saarland were squared off in the qualifiers for the 1954 World Cup before the Saarland and its FA was permitted to rejoin Germany and the DFB in 1956.
1963 to present
Due to that success, and due to regional associations fearing to lose influence, the old amateur structure, in which five regional leagues represented the top level, remained in effect longer than in many other countries, even though a Reichsliga had been proposed decades ago. Also, professionalism was rejected, and players who played abroad were considered "mercenaries" and not capped. The conservative attitude changed only after disappointing results in the 1962 FIFA World Cup when officials like the 75-year-old Peco Bauwens retired. According to the proposals of Hermann Neuberger, the DFB finally introduced a single nationwide professional league, the Bundesliga, for the 1963–64 season.
The DFB has hosted the World Cup in 1974 and 2006. Germany also hosted the 1988 European Championship. Upon reunification in 1990, the East German Deutscher Fußball-Verband der DDR (DFV) was absorbed into the DFB.
The national team won the World Cup for a second time in 1974, a third time in 1990, and a fourth in the 2014 FIFA World Cup. Also, they were crowned European champions three times, in 1972, in 1980 and in 1996. On top, the Mannschaft were runners-up in the 1966, 1982, 1986 and 2002 World Cups and in 1976, 1992 and 2008 European Championships.
The DFB has also overseen the rise of Germany as a world power in women's football. The national team has won World Cups in 2003 and 2007—the latter without conceding a goal in the final tournament, making them the only World Cup champions for men or women to do so. Furthermore, the women's national team's victory in 2003 made Germany the only nation to have won both the Men's and Women's World Cups, until Spain achieved the same milestone in 2023.[12] They have also won eight UEFA Women's Championships, including the last six in succession.
In 1990, mere months before reunification became official, the DFB founded the
Since 2005, in memory of former German-Jewish Olympian international footballer Julius Hirsch who was killed in Auschwitz concentration camp during the Holocaust, the German Football Federation awards the "Julius-Hirsch-Preis" for outstanding examples of integration and tolerance within German football.[13][14]
In 2018, Germany was chosen to host UEFA Euro 2024.[15]
Critics
The main criticisms of the DFB are the lack of transparency and the commercialization of football, which has been strongly promoted by DFB officials.
Christian Prechtl, from the fan organization FC PlayFair!, mentioned that the growing unpopularity of the
Structure
Members
Direct members of the DFB are only its five regional associations and its 21 state associations, along with the German Football League, whereas the clubs participating in the German football league system are members of the state associations covering their district. Today, more than 25,000 clubs are organised in those state associations, fielding nearly 170,000 teams with over two million active players and totalling over six million members, the largest membership of any single sports federation in the world. The Association governs 870,000 female members and 8,600 female teams.
Regional and state associations
The DFB is organised into five regional associations, which themselves are sub-divided into 21 state associations. These associations typically have their boundaries run along the borders of the German states, with the exception of some states (North Rhine-Westphalia, Rhineland-Palatinate, and Baden-Württemberg) having up to three state associations covering different areas of such state.
Southern Germany
The
- Baden Football Association (German: Badischer Fußball-Verband; BFV)
- Bavarian Football Association (German: Bayerischer Fußball-Verband; BFV)
- Hessian Football Association (German: Hessischer Fußball-Verband; HFV)
- South Baden Football Association (German: Südbadischer Fußball-Verband; SBFV)
- Württemberg Football Association (German: Württembergischer Fußball-Verband; WFV)
Southwestern Germany
The
- Rhineland Football Association (German: Fußball-Verband Rheinland; FVR)
- Saarland Football Association (German: Saarländischer Fußball-Verband; SFV)
- Southwest German Football Association (German: Südwestdeutscher Fußball-Verband; SWFV)
Western Germany
The
- Middle Rhine Football Association (German: Fußballverband Mittelrhein; FVM)
- Lower Rhine Football Association (German: Fußballverband Niederrhein; FVN)
- Westphalia Football and Athletics Association (German: Fußball- und Leichtathletikverband Westfalen; FLVW)
Northern Germany
The
- Bremen Football Association (German: Bremer Fußball-Verband; BFV)
- Hamburg Football Association (German: Hamburger Fußball-Verband; HFV)
- Lower Saxony Football Association (German: Niedersächsischer Fußball-Verband; NFV)
- Schleswig-Holstein Football Association (German: Schleswig-Holsteinischer Fußball-Verband; SHFV)
Northeastern Germany
The
- Brandenburg Football Association (German: Fußball-Landesverband Brandenburg; FLB)
- Berlin Football Association (German: Berliner Fußball-Verband; BFV)
- Mecklenburg-Vorpommern State Football Association (German: Landesfußball-Verband Mecklenburg-Vorpommern; LFVM)
- Saxony Football Association (German: Sächsischer Fußball-Verband; SFV)
- Saxony-Anhalt Football Association (German: Fußball-Verband Sachsen-Anhalt; FSA)
- Thuringian Football Association (German: Thüringer Fußball-Verband; TFV)
Presidents
- Ferdinand Hueppe (1900–1904)
- Friedrich Wilhelm Nohe (1904–1905)
- Gottfried Hinze (1905–1925)
- Felix Linnemann (1925–1940)
- Peco Bauwens (1950–1962)
- Hermann Gösmann (1962–1975)
- Hermann Neuberger (1975–1992, died in office)
- Egidius Braun (1992–2001)
- Gerhard Mayer-Vorfelder (2001–2004)
- Gerhard Mayer-Vorfelder and Theo Zwanziger (2004–2006)
- Theo Zwanziger (2006–2012)
- Wolfgang Niersbach (2012–2015)
- Acting: Rainer Koch and Reinhard Rauball (2015–2016)
- Reinhard Grindel (2016–2019)
- Acting: Rainer Koch and Reinhard Rauball (2019)
- Fritz Keller (2019–2021)
- Acting: Rainer Koch and Peter Peters (2021–2022)
- Bernd Neuendorf (2022–present)
Administration
DFB Administration is located in
Men's Honours
Major competitions
- Champions (4): 1954, 1974, 1990, 2014
- Runners-up (4): 1966, 1982, 1986, 2002
- Third place (4): 1934, 1970, 2006, 2010
- Fourth place (1): 1958
Overview | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Event | 1st place | 2nd place | 3rd place | 4th place |
FIFA World Cup | 4 | 4 | 4 | 1 |
UEFA European Championship | 3 | 3 | 3 | x |
Summer Olympic Games | 1 | 2 | 3 | 1 |
FIFA Confederations Cup | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
UEFA Nations League | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Total | 9 | 9 | 11 | 2 |
Women's Honours
Major competitions
- Champions (8):
- Runners-up (1): 2022
- Fourth place (1): 1993
Overview | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Event | 1st place | 2nd place | 3rd place | 4th place |
FIFA Women's World Cup | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
UEFA Women's Championship | 8 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
Summer Olympic Games | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
Total | 11 | 2 | 3 | 3 |
DFB Mascot
The official mascot is an eagle with black feathers and a yellow beak called "Paule" (since 26 March 2006).
See also
- German football league system
- German Football Museum
- History of German football
- DFB Sports Court
- DFB-Bundestag
- Permanent Arbitration Court
Notes
References
- ^ "From Leipzig to Paris – the story of how the DFB became the first association to join FIFA". Museum Blog. FIFA World Football Museum. 28 January 2020.
- ^ Havemann, Nils (2006). Fußball unterm Hakenkreuz. Der DFB zwischen Sport, Politik und Kommerz. Bonn: Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung.
- ^ "War, Auschwitz, and the Tragic Tale of Germany's Jewish Soccer Hero". Vice Sports. 13 April 2015.
- ISBN 9780864738004.
- ^ Reyes, Macario (26 June 2008). "V. Olympiad Stockholm 1912 Football Tournament". RSSSF. Retrieved 30 December 2013.
- ISBN 9781442261631. Retrieved 22 November 2022 – via Google Books.
- ^ a b "Gottfried Fuchs Bio, Stats, and Results | Olympics at Sports-Reference.com". 17 April 2020. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 22 November 2022.
- ISBN 9780857388131. Retrieved 22 November 2022 – via Google Books.
- ^ a b ""Snapshot – Sepp Herberger tries to invite Gottfried Fuchs"". Retrieved 22 November 2022.
- ^ "Jüdische Sportstars: Gottfried Fuchs". juedische-sportstars.de. Retrieved 22 November 2022.
- ^ "DFB – Deutscher Fußball-Bund e.V. – Die DFB-Geschichte". www.dfb.de. Retrieved 22 November 2022.
- ^ Jopson, Barney; Agini, Samuel (20 August 2023). "Spain beat England 1-0 to become Women's World Cup champions". Financial Times. Retrieved 21 August 2023.
- ^ Ein Zeichen gegen Diskriminierung Archived 1 July 2012 at the Wayback Machine (in German) DFB website. Retrieved 25 June 2012
- ^ Mendel, Jack. "Living with the ghost of my grandfather, a German Jewish football icon". Times of Israel.
- ^ "Euro 2024: Germany beats Turkey to host tournament". BBC News. 27 September 2018. Retrieved 27 September 2018.
- ^ dpa (26 December 2018). "Increasing commercialization: DFB team as a deterrent example: Alienation of football from the grassroots?". www.svz.de. Retrieved 7 September 2021.
- ^ "commerce around the DFB team hits the German fans". www.svz.de. 10 November 2020. Retrieved 7 September 2021.
- ^ Southern German Football Association website (in German) accessed: 24 March 2023
- ^ Southwestern German Football Association website (in German) accessed: 17 July 2012
- ^ Western German Football Association website (in German) accessed: 17 July 2012
- ^ Northern German Football Association website (in German) accessed: 17 July 2012
- ^ North Eastern German Football Association website (in German) accessed: 17 July 2012
External links
Media related to Deutscher Fußball-Bund at Wikimedia Commons
- Official website
- Germany at FIFA site (archived 3 June 2007)
- Germany at UEFA site