Ex-German chancellor Schroeder loses football role over Russian links
Germany's former Chancellor, Gerhard Schroeder, has been removed from his role as an honorary member of the German Football Association (DFB) because bosses said he had failed to "position himself clearly" on Russia's attack on Ukraine.
Schroeder, who served as Social Democrat chancellor between 1998 and 2005, is said to be on the board of Russian oil company Rosneft and the chairman of the shareholders' committee of the company in charge of building the abandoned Nord Stream 2 pipeline.
One report also claimed that the 77-year-old held talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin after flying to Moscow this week.
DFB Vice-Presidents Rainer Koch and Hans-Joachim Watzke issued a joint statement accusing Russia of violating international law and saying that Schroeder's alleged failure to distance himself from the assault meant he does not "share the values of football".
Ahead of a vote on a new president, the German FA (DFB) has voted unanimously to withdraw former German chancellor Gerhard Schröder's honorary membership due to his links to Vladimir Putin.#DFBBundestag#Ukrainehttps://t.co/7Jf5FV7TS0
— Matt Ford (@matt_4d) March 11, 2022
"Even after his honorary membership has been revoked, we continue to expect from the former Chancellor, Gerhard Schroeder, that he uses his influence and works to the best of his ability for peace in Ukraine," they added.
In an initial statement on March 3, the DFB said "far more is needed at the moment" than a "just a general condemnation" of the attack.
"From the DFB's point of view, what is required is not only the cessation of sporting competitions with Russian teams, but also solidarity with Ukraine and the complete abandonment of commitments in Russian institutions, especially state-owned companies," it said.
"We very much wish that our honorary member Gerhard Schroeder shares this attitude of the DFB leadership and renounces his functions in Russian state-owned companies before the DFB Bundestag [meeting] on March 11th – or, if he is not prepared to do so, gives up his honorary membership in the DFB."
Schroeder had received his membership at a meeting in Leipzig in December 2005.
He had been urged to step down from any roles with Russian companies by politicians in Germany, according to Reuters.
The outlet said that Bild am Sonntag (BamS) had reported a meeting lasting "several hours" on Thursday evening between Schroeder and Putin in a bid to end the conflict in Ukraine.
The weekly newspaper is said to have cited a source with detailed insight into Schroeder's activities to have disclosed that the predecessor of Angela Merkel also had a 'long talk' with one of Putin's 'closest advisers'.
The paper did not give any further details of the discussions and said that Schroeder left Russia on Saturday morning to fly to Istanbul with his wife.
Reuters said that Schroeder is a personal friend of Putin, and cited BamS as saying that Schroeder met a group of Ukrainians with links to the country's delegation for peace talks in Turkey on Monday evening.
The German government's press office referenced remarks made by Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Friday. Scholz did not comment on the meeting but said that he would note any results and include them in other efforts he was involved in.
Scholz reportedly spoke to Putin in a three-way phone call with French President Emmanuel Macron on Saturday.
Newly-elected DFB President Bernd Neuendorf said in his candidate speech: "Recent events in Ukraine are forcing us to pause, to think – and they are also forcing us to act.
"We must leave no doubt that we condemn Russia's invasion of Ukraine in the strongest possible terms."
Schroeder is the latest figure to lose a sporting role following the start of the attack on Ukraine.
Among other moves made by sporting organizations, Putin was suspended as honorary president of the International Judo Federation last week.
