The youth reform in German football continues to spark discussions. On Wednesday evening, Hans-Joachim Watzke expressed caustic criticism – and that as DFB vice president.
DFB Vice President Hans-Joachim Watzke has sharply criticized the reforms planned by the German Football Association in the youth sector. “Incredible and incomprehensible to me,” said the 64-year-old, who is also the head of the supervisory board of the German Football League and managing director of Borussia Dortmund, on Wednesday evening at the DUP Entrepreneur Day in Essen. Watzke announced a reform of the reform: “We just decided that.”
At the end of August, the DFB introduced Hannes Wolf as the new director responsible for youth development. The 42-year-old explained and defended the youth reform in detail. Most recently, the restructuring of the youth competitions and the abolition of the previous A and B junior federal leagues had been decided. The main point of the criticism is that it is supposedly no longer about winning and losing.
From 2024 new forms of play
“If you never have the feeling of losing as a six, eight or nine-year-old, then you will never find the great strength to win,” said Watzke. “If we are afraid that an eight-year-old will be completely thrown off balance because he loses 5-0 with his team, then that also says a lot about German society.”
From 2024, new forms of play are to be established. In essence, these provide for smaller team sizes on smaller playing fields in certain age groups and replace the previous competitive offers as fixed formats. “There was also a discussion about not playing for goals anymore. We’ll soon be playing without the ball,” said Watzke. “Or we make it square so that it doesn’t run away from the somewhat slower youngsters. I think that’s fundamentally the wrong approach.”
Hans-Joachim Watzke: We all have to be happy and peaceful
Watzke criticized that “there are many people in the DFB and in society as a whole who say: We need to have less pressure to perform and stress at work and prefer to have a little more home office. We all have to be happy and peaceful and all get along well and on We’ll see that we find someone who will pay for the whole thing.” That also applies to youth football, said the official. “You mustn’t underestimate that. And I think it’s completely wrong.”
Source: Stern
I am Pierce Boyd, a driven and ambitious professional working in the news industry. I have been writing for 24 Hours Worlds for over five years, specializing in sports section coverage. During my tenure at the publication, I have built an impressive portfolio of articles that has earned me a reputation as an experienced journalist and content creator.
