KEIR RADNEDGE REPORTS: Freiburg president Fritz Keller is poised to take up the poisoned chalice role of president of the German football federation.

An appointments committee of the DFB has proposed the 62-year-old Keller as the only candidate to go forward for election by the annual conference on September 27 in Frankfurt.

Keller said the conflict of interest with his club role meant he would have to resign as president of Freiburg “with a heavy heart”. He became ceo in 2010 and president in 2014.

DFB vice-president Rainer Koch said he considered Keller “the right man for the future of the DFB.” Koch added: “He can bring people together, represent the entire spectrum of German football and in particular for the interests of professional and amateur football.”

Fellow DFB vice-president Reinhard Rauball said: “Equipped with clear values ​​and being very down-to-earth, he has always prioritised the social responsibility of football in his club and within the framework of the Bundesliga.”

Keller would succeed Reinhard Grindel who quit in April over the acceptance of a valuable watch and having given false information about his income .

Previous presidents Theo Zwanziger and Wolfgang Niersbach both face fraud charges in Switzerland over a mystery payment in connection with Germany’s hosting of the 2006 World Cup finals. Both men deny the charges arising from an issue which forced both out of the game.

Keller, as head of Europe’s largest sports association and like his predecessors, would probably find himself rushed through comparatively quickly to membership of the executive committee of European federation UEFA and then on to the governing council of world body FIFA.

#############