General Secretary Wolfgang Niersbach on Wednesday officially declared his intent to stand as successor for Theo Zwanziger as the next president of the German Football Federation (DFB).
Having spent the last 20 years working with Niersbach for the DFB, Zwanziger said he placed his full trust in the former journalist, who is in effect his preferred candidate for the job of boss of German football.
"Yes, I trust myself to do the job, I am ready," said Niersbach in a press conference in Frankfurt on Wednesday having told Zwanziger in a meeting on Tuesday night that he wants to stand as DFB chief.
"There have been many positive signals sent out, which persuaded me to stand.
"It's certainly not been my aim or part of my life plan, just as it wasn't my goal to be general secretary before I joined the DFB when I was a journalist.
"This is a huge step for me, but is one I am looking forward to with enormous respect."
Last Friday, Zwanziger announced that he wanted to step down as DFB president no later than October 2012, a year earlier than his current term, having been boss since 2006.
Zwanziger's replacement will be voted for next year during an extraordinary general meeting of the DFB when the 11th president will be decided.
"I am very happy that Wolfgang Niersbach has agreed, after intensive consideration, to stand as my successor," said Zwanziger.
Niersbach was formerly an editor for SID, an AFP subsidiary, before becoming media director for the DFB between 1988-2001 and later taking over as General Secretary in 2007.
Source: AFP
