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DFB urges Zwanziger to step down

#INSERT type:image caption:Theo Zwanziger has been a member of FIFA's executive board since 2011. END#

The German Football Association (DFB) has called on its former president Theo Zwanziger to step down as a member of FIFA's executive board as he no longer represents national interests.

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Zwanziger was forced to relinquish his role with the DFB in 2012, and was succeeded by Wolfgang Niersbach.

Since 2011, he has been a member of FIFA's executive board, replacing Franz Beckenbauer, who has been provisionally banned from taking part in any football-related activity at any level after failing to co-operate with an investigation into the bidding process for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups.

In recent interviews, Zwanziger has accused Niersbach of "hypocritical behaviour" regarding his DFB salary.

He said that "with the hundreds of thousands who have a different opinion of what an honorary office is," it was rather striking that Niersbach has "received a considerable six-digit sum from the DFB savings."

Zwanziger added in an interview with Rhein Zeitung on Saturday: "That's hypocritical. The DFB is a non-profit association after all."

The DFB, however, responded by releasing a statement calling for Zwanziger to step down as a member of FIFA's executive board.

The statement read: "The members of the chairmanship have come to the conclusion that Theo Zwanziger puts personal motives above the interests of football and does serious harm to the association.

"As the assessment of this board is that he no longer adequately represents the interests of German football in FIFA, the DFB chairmanship calls for Dr Theo Zwanziger to step down from his office in the executive of the world association."