Reinhard Dieter Grindel (born 19 September 1961) is a German

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalis ...

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking ...

( CDU) and football administrator. From 2002 to 2016 Grindel was member of the

Bundestag The Bundestag (, "Federal Diet") is the German federal parliament. It is the only federal representative body that is directly elected by the German people. It is comparable to the United States House of Representatives or the House of Common ...

(Lower Chamber of the German Parliament). On 15 April 2016, he was elected president of the German Football Association (DFB) and resigned as member of parliament. On 2 April 2019, he resigned as president of the association.

Life

Early years and journalism

Grindel was born in

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

where he also went to school and studied law after obtaining a grant from the

Konrad Adenauer Foundation The Konrad Adenauer Foundation (german: Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung, KAS) is a German political party foundation associated with but independent of the centre-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU). The foundation's headquarters are located in Sank ...

. After his studies he worked as a journalist for radio and television. From 1997 to 1999 he headed the

ZDF ZDF (, short for Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen; ; "Second German Television") is a German public-service television broadcaster based in Mainz, Rhineland-Palatinate. It is run as an independent nonprofit institution, which was founded by all fe ...

studio in

Bonn The federal city of Bonn ( lat, Bonna) is a city on the banks of the Rhine in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, with a population of over 300,000. About south-southeast of Cologne, Bonn is in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ru ...

, from 1999 to 2002 that in

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

. He is married and has two sons.

Political career

Grindel became a member of the CDU in 1977. He was then active in the

Young Union The Junge Union Deutschlands (''Young Union of Germany'') or JU is the joint youth organisation of the two conservative German political parties, CDU and CSU. Membership is limited to individuals between 14 and 35 years of age. Junge Union claim ...

and belonged to the state board in Hamburg from 1979 to 1985. From 1981 to 1987, he was also a member of the CDU district Board

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

Eimsbüttel Eimsbüttel () is one of the seven boroughs (Bezirke) of Hamburg, Germany. In 2020 the population was 269,118. History On March 1, 2008 Eimsbüttel lost part of its area to the borough Altona where it formed the Sternschanze quarter. Geography ...

. From 1982 to 1988, he was deputy of the local district assembly. Grindel was a member of the German

from 2002 to 2016. He was elected to the Bundestag through the CDU state list of

Lower Saxony Lower Saxony (german: Niedersachsen ; nds, Neddersassen; stq, Läichsaksen) is a German state (') in northwestern Germany. It is the second-largest state by land area, with , and fourth-largest in population (8 million in 2021) among the 16 ...

in 2002 and 2005. In the 2009 federal election, he was directly elected as the representative of the constituency Rotenburg I – Soltau-Fallingbostel. In the 17th legislature, he was a member of the Committee on Internal Affairs. In the 2013 federal election, Grindel again won his constituency. In the 18th legislative term he was deputy chairman of the Sports Committee. In the negotiations to form a '' Grand Coalition'' of the Christian Democrats and the

Social Democrats Social democracy is a political, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocating economic and social interventions to promote so ...

(SPD) following the elections, he was part of the CDU/CSU delegation in the working group on integration and migration, led by Maria Böhmer and

Aydan Özoğuz Aydan Özoğuz (, born 31 May 1967) is a German politician of the Social Democratic Party (SPD), who has been serving as a Vice-president of the German Bundestag since October 2021. She has been a member of the Bundestag since 2009 and served as ...

. In June 2016, after being elected as President of the German Football association, Grindel resigned as member of the German Bundestag and was succeeded by Kathrin Rösel. Since 2003, Grindel has been serving as deputy chairman of the CDU district association Elbe-Weser.

Football administration

Grindel is a member of Rotenburger SV. From 2011 to 2014, he was 1st Vice President of the

Lower Saxony Football Association The Lower Saxony Football Association (german: Niedersächsischer Fussball-Verband), the ''NFV'', is one of 21 state organisations of the German Football Association, the ''DFB'', and covers the state of Lower Saxony.

, he is also vice chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Robert Enke Foundation. From October 2013 to April 2016, he was treasurer of the German Football Association. Grindel was elected on 15 April 2016 to the position of DFB president, succeeding the retiring Wolfgang Niersbach. In July 2018, Mesut Özil criticised Grindel's approach to Özil's Turkish ancestry in a statement declaring his retirement from the national team, following controversial photos with

Recep Tayyip Erdogan Recep may refer to: People Surname * Aziz Recep (born 1992), German-Greek footballer * Sibel Recep (born 1987), Swedish pop singer Given name * Recep Adanır (born 1929), Turkish footballer * Recep Akdağ (born 1960), Turkish physician and polit ...

. However, Grindel's handling of the fallout was criticised by Matt Pearson of '' Deutsche Welle'', who opined that comments Grindel made in 2004 calling

multiculturalism The term multiculturalism has a range of meanings within the contexts of sociology, political philosophy, and colloquial use. In sociology and in everyday usage, it is a synonym for " ethnic pluralism", with the two terms often used interchang ...

"a myth and a lifelong lie" were incompatible with his role at the DFB, stating "it doesn't seem appropriate for him to continue in a position where he's overseeing players and coaches from a variety of backgrounds". Grindel resigned as president of the German Football Association on 2 April 2019. The reason he gave for his resignation was his criticism of himself after accepting a luxury watch from a Ukrainian oligarch. Grindel had already been the target of criticism in the run-up to the meeting. One accusation was, among other things, the lack of mention of additional income when he took up his post as chairman of the supervisory board of the association's so-called "media management company". He was also criticized for his communication in public and for his media relations. As a result of his approach Grindel has been the target of criticism since the summer of 2018.

References

External links

Web page of Reinhard Grindel
{{DEFAULTSORT:Grindel, Reinhard Living people 1961 births German football chairmen and investors University of Hamburg alumni Members of the Bundestag for Lower Saxony Members of the UEFA Executive Committee Members of the Bundestag 2013–2017 Members of the Bundestag 2009–2013 Members of the Bundestag 2005–2009 Members of the Bundestag 2002–2005 People from Eimsbüttel Members of the Bundestag for the Christian Democratic Union of Germany