.mw-parser-output .hidden-begin{box-sizing:border-box;width:100%;padding:5px;border:none;font-size:95%}.mw-parser-output .hidden-title{font-weight:bold;line-height:1.6;text-align:left}.mw-parser-output .hidden-content{text-align:left}You can help expand this article with text translated from the corresponding article in German. (February 2022) Click [show] for important translation instructions. View a machine-translated version of the German article. Machine translation, like DeepL or Google Translate, is a useful starting point for translations, but translators must revise errors as necessary and confirm that the translation is accurate, rather than simply copy-pasting machine-translated text into the English Wikipedia. Consider adding a topic to this template: there are already 8,953 articles in the main category, and specifying|topic= will aid in categorization. Do not translate text that appears unreliable or low-quality. If possible, verify the text with references provided in the foreign-language article. You must provide copyright attribution in the edit summary accompanying your translation by providing an interlanguage link to the source of your translation. A model attribution edit summary is Content in this edit is translated from the existing German Wikipedia article at [[:de:Theo Zwanziger]]; see its history for attribution. You should also add the template ((Translated|de|Theo Zwanziger)) to the talk page. For more guidance, see Wikipedia:Translation.
Theo Zwanziger
Zwanziger in 2006
10th President of the DFB
In office
8 September 2006 (2006-09-08) – 2 March 2012 (2012-03-02)
Preceded byGerhard Mayer-Vorfelder
Succeeded byWolfgang Niersbach
Executive President of the DFB
In office
23 October 2004 (2004-10-23) – 8 September 2006 (2006-09-08)
Serving with president Gerhard Mayer-Vorfelder
District president of Koblenz
In office
1987 (1987)–1991 (1991)
Member of the Landtag of Rhineland-Palatinate from district 1
In office
1 June 1985 (1985-06-01) – 9 January 1987 (1987-01-09)
Personal details
Born (1945-06-06) 6 June 1945 (age 78)[1]
Altendiez, Germany
Political partyCDU
Children2
Occupation
  • Judge
  • lawyer
AwardsFederal Cross of Merit

Theo Zwanziger (born 6 June 1945) is a German lawyer and sports official. He was the president of the German Football Association (DFB) from 2006 to 2012. For his contributions to German football, he received the Bundesverdienstkreuz in 2005.[2]

Career

Theo Zwanziger was an amateur player for his local VfL Altendiez, playing there until 1975.[2] He studied law in Mainz and graduated in fiscal and constitutional law.[2] Between 1980 and 1985, he worked as a judge in Koblenz before joining the government of Rhineland-Palatinate as a representative of the CDU.[2]

In 1992, Zwanziger entered the DFB as a member of the executive board ("Mitglied des Vorstandes").[3] He was a vital part of the groundbreaking 2001 decision to grant autonomy to the German Bundesliga professional teams, letting them organise themselves in the DFL (Deutsche Fußball-Liga).[3] In 2001, Zwanziger was made treasurer of the DFB and elected vice president in 2003. For his contributions to German football, he received the Bundesverdienstkreuz in 2005.[2] On 8 December 2006, he was named co-president alongside Gerhard Mayer-Vorfelder.[3] After Mayer-Vorfelder left the DFB to become UEFA vice president in 2007, he became the sole president of the DFB.

On 2 March 2012, he stepped down.[4]

In March 2016, the FIFA Ethics Committee opened formal proceedings against Zwanziger regarding the awarding of the 2006 FIFA World Cup.[5]

Personal life

Zwanziger is married and has two sons.[1]

Litigation

When the renowned sport journalist Jens Weinreich called him an "unglaublicher Demagoge" (unbelievable demagogue), Zwanziger unsuccessfully asked the Landgericht Berlin (country court of Berlin) to issue a temporary injunction against this statement. Zwanziger later publicly announced to go to the court of Koblenz, his former place of work for another attempt, resulting in further criticism from the press and journalists' associations. As of March 2009, Zwanziger's legal attempts to silence Weinreich have all but failed. Weinreich has publicly stated that he fears Zwanziger might continue to use SLAPP tactics to outspend Weinreich, hence accepting donations from the public to cover his legal expenses. On 27 March 2009, Weinreich and the DFB agreed out of court.[6]

References

  1. ^ a b "Vita Dr. Theo Zwanziger". DFB (in German). Archived from the original on 8 June 2011. Retrieved 1 July 2010.
  2. ^ a b c d e "Zwanziger receives Order of the Federal Republic of Germany". FIFA.[dead link]
  3. ^ a b c "Dr. Theo Zwanziger". DFB (in German). Archived from the original on 8 June 2011. Retrieved 1 July 2010.
  4. ^ "Parting President Zwanziger awarded with state medal". DFB. 2 March 2012. Archived from the original on 29 July 2012. Retrieved 2 March 2012.
  5. ^ Das, Andrew (22 March 2016). "FIFA Opens Ethics Case Against German Soccer Officials Including Beckenbauer". The New York Times. Retrieved 29 April 2016.
  6. ^ Weinreich, Jens (27 March 2009). "Weinreich: das Finale". jensweinreich.de (in German). Retrieved 1 July 2010. Behind paywall.
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