Football – DFB boss: German football upgraded by Frankfurt victory – Sport
Berlin (AP) – DFB President Bernd Neuendorf sees German football internationally upgraded after winning the Europa League by Eintracht Frankfurt.
It is “phenomenal” that eight teams will play in the three European club competitions next season. “With the win and, above all, who Eintracht has beaten on the way there, with Barcelona and West Ham United, i.e. Premier League and LaLiga clubs, that’s very recognizable. That should make us really self-confident in German football that we can keep up internationally,” said the head of the association in Berlin at the “Bild100 Sport” media event.
“Something is developing”
However, he restricted that it was still “very, very difficult to keep up” with the absolute top clubs in Spain and England such as Real Madrid or FC Barcelona. These are big clubs and big names like Manchester City or Liverpool FC. “But behind us we’re probably competitive. And of course with Bayern Munich we also have a team that can keep up well with the other teams. But something is developing,” said Neuendorf.
Leverkusen, Leipzig and Frankfurt also had a good season. “I probably trust German teams that they can establish themselves up there in this top segment,” said the DFB president.
As a result of Frankfurt’s Europa League win, five German teams will play in the Champions League for the first time next season. In addition, SC Freiburg and 1. FC Union Berlin have qualified for the Europa League and 1. FC Köln for the Conference League.
Protests against Qatar “with a European voice”
According to von Neuendorf, Europe’s football associations want to jointly coordinate actions to ensure compliance with human rights at World Cup hosts Qatar. With the European Football Union, you have a working group that you want to try to speak with a European voice, said the head of the association.
“That applies to the associations, but it also applies to possible actions by the teams, because I think it would be unfortunate now if you got into a kind of outbidding competition: who is doing the coolest action now or who gets the most applause for action X , Y or Z,” said Neuendorf, adding: “It’s good if we speak with a European voice and that’s being prepared.”
The German and Norwegian national teams launched various protests against human rights violations in Qatar last year. Before the game against Iceland, the German Football Association (DFB) team wore self-painted T-shirts with the words “Human Rights” on them. The Norwegians around star striker Erling Haaland had done something similar and wore shirts with the inscription “Respekt – On and off the pitch” (Respect – on and off the pitch) during the international match against Gibraltar.
The DFB selection will play in the Nations League in Bologna against Italy (June 4), in Munich against England (June 7), in Budapest against Hungary (June 11) and again against Italy in Mönchengladbach (June 14). Neuendorf left it open whether coordinated actions would already take place there. The World Cup finals in Qatar begin on November 21st.
Qatar has been under criticism for human rights and the situation of foreign workers since the tournament was awarded at the end of 2010. Reports of thousands of deaths on construction sites in the Emirates always cause a stir. The government of Qatar rejects the criticism and refers to a different set of reforms.
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