The German Football Association (DFB) on Friday withdrew honorary membership from former German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder over his ties to Vladimir Putin and major Russian groups.
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“Russia’s attack on Ukraine is contrary to international law and therefore incompatible with our values,” DFB acting president Rainer Koch told AFP-affiliate German news agency SID. .
“Unfortunately, Gerhard Schröder has not acceded to the many requests for a clear position once morest this war,” added the leader of the federation, who had already given Schröder an ultimatum to leave the positions he holds. or that he renounces his membership of the DFB.
On Wednesday, Borussia Dortmund had for the same reasons withdrawn from the ex-chancellor his title of honorary member of the club.
Aged 77, Mr. Schröder displays his closeness to Russian President Vladimir Putin. He is chairman of the board of directors of Rosneft, Russia’s leading oil group, and of the shareholder committee of Nord Stream 2, a controversial Russian-German gas pipeline. He should in principle join the supervisory board of the Russian giant Gazprom in June.
Unlike other former European leaders linked to Russian groups, such as the Frenchman François Fillon or the Italian Matteo Renzi, Mr. Schröder refuses at this stage to resign from his mandates.
