Rainer Koch (born 18 December 1958) is a German jurist and
football official. From November 2015 to April 2016, he was the acting president of the
German Football Association along with
Reinhard Rauball.
Koch is a member of
UEFA
Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; french: Union des associations européennes de football; german: Union der europäischen Fußballverbände) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs f ...
's Appeals Body.
Professional career
Koch completed his schooling at
Wilhelmsgymnasium Munich and then did his military service. From 1979 to 1984 he studied law at the
Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich. After receiving his
doctorate
A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''li ...
, he worked in the Bavarian
judicature
The judiciary (also known as the judicial system, judicature, judicial branch, judiciative branch, and court or judiciary system) is the system of courts that adjudicates legal disputes/disagreements and interprets, defends, and applies the law ...
. After working in various
local courts, he worked for three years at the Saxonian University of Applied Sciences of Administration in
Meissen. Koch was the deputy head of the IT authority of the Bavarian justice for several years. Since 2008, Koch has been a judge at the
Oberlandesgericht
An ''Oberlandesgericht'' (plural – ''Oberlandesgerichte''; OLG, en, Higher Regional Court, or in Berlin '' Kammergericht'': KG) is a higher court in Germany.
There are 24 OLGs in Germany and they deal with civil and criminal matters. They a ...
Munich. Because of his diverse obligations as a sports official, he converted to a
part-time job.
Sporting career
Bavarian Football Association
In his youth, Koch played football for the ''Kirchheimer SC'' and for the ''TSV Poing''. From 1977 to 1980, Koch was coach of the D and C junior teams from Kirchheimer SC. Also in
Kirchheim, Koch took over head of the youth department from 1989-1990. Starting in 1975, he was a
referee at the
Bavarian Football Association (Bayerischer Fußball-Verband, BFV). Up to 1986, Koch refereed nearly 1,000 football matches, including some in the
Bayernliga
The Bayernliga (English: Bavarian league) is the highest amateur football league and the second highest football league (under the Regionalliga Bayern) in the state of Bavaria (german: Bayern) and the Bavarian football league system. It is one o ...
, which was then the third highest league in Germany. From 1987 to 1989 he was an official referee observer. He also coached the A youth team of
Falke Markt Schwaben. Koch acquired the coaching license B in 1982.
At the age of 24, in 1982, he was an observer in the referee committee of the football district of Munich, which he held until 1986. After a work-related break, Koch returned again in 1990 to the BFV and became chairman of the Jugend-Sportgericht (Youth Sport Court) in the district of
Upper Bavaria
Upper Bavaria (german: Oberbayern, ; ) is one of the seven administrative districts of Bavaria, Germany.
Geography
Upper Bavaria is located in the southern portion of Bavaria, and is centered on the city of Munich, both state capital and seat o ...
. After six years he was assessor in the association sports court, the leading sports court in the BFV, which he chaired from 1998 until 2004. In November 2004, Koch was unanimously elected President of the Bavarian Football Association.
As president, he visited the district and regional days in BFV, promoted the efforts against
match fixing, and strengthened the lower divisions in the association. In the following BFV general meetings in 2006, 2010 and 2014 Koch was unanimously re-elected.
Southern German Football Association
Koch was elected in 2005 as vice president of the board of the
Southern German Football Association
The Southern German Football Association (german: Süddeutscher Fussball-Verband), the ''SFV'', is one of five regional organisations of the German Football Association, the ''DFB'', and covers the states of Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria and Hesse. ...
(Süddeutscher Fußball-Verband, SFV). The SFV is made up of the football associations in Bavaria,
Hesse
Hesse (, , ) or Hessia (, ; german: Hessen ), officially the State of Hessen (german: links=no, Land Hessen), is a state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt. Two other major historic cities are Dar ...
,
Baden
Baden (; ) is a historical territory in South Germany, in earlier times on both sides of the Upper Rhine but since the Napoleonic Wars only East of the Rhine.
History
The margraves of Baden originated from the House of Zähringen. Baden i ...
and
Württemberg
Württemberg ( ; ) is a historical German territory roughly corresponding to the cultural and linguistic region of Swabia. The main town of the region is Stuttgart.
Together with Baden and Hohenzollern, two other historical territories, Württ ...
. Koch is President of the SFV since 22 October 2011.
German Football Association
upKoch in 2011
In 1996, Koch was made assessor of sports court of the
German Football Association (Deutscher Fußball-Bund, DFB), to which he was elected chairman in 1998. In this position, Koch was much more involved in the investigation of the
Bundesliga scandal 2005. Under his chairmanship, the court imposed the highest fines in the DFB-history for racism from football fans.
In October 2007, Koch was elected DFB vice-president and then gave up the chair of the sports court. As DFB vice-president he was involved in fighting against racism and violence in football stadiums. On 25 October 2013, Koch took over the responsibility for amateur football as 1st Vice President of the DFB board. In this capacity, he is chairman of the conference of 21 state and five regional association presidents. This conference advises the DFB Presidium, the DFB Board and the DFB central administration in all issues that affect amateur football. Following the resignation of Wolfgang Niersbach in November 2015, Koch was, along with first Vice President
Reinhard Rauball, statutory acting DFB president.
In connection with possible bribes before the
2006 FIFA World Cup
The 2006 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Germany 2006, was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to host th ...
, on 9 November 2015, Koch demanded a public announcement about the operations from
Franz Beckenbauer and explained that it was absolutely necessary "that he is intensively introduced in the elucidation of the processes."
Koch remained president along with Rauball until 15 April 2016.
International Football
From 2002 to 2011, Koch was a member of the Control and Disciplinary Body of UEFA.
Politics
Koch runs since 1990 for the
Social Democratic Party of Germany in the city council of
Poing and in 2009 was a member of the
Federal Convention for his party.
Family
Koch is married and has a daughter.
References
{{Authority control
Living people
1958 births
German football chairmen and investors
Recipients of the Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany
21st-century German judges
Social Democratic Party of Germany politicians