The sporting director responsible for the national teams, Joti Chatzialexiou, is leaving the German Football Association at the end of the year.
This means that the personnel changes in the DFB’s management team continue after the failures of the women’s and men’s national teams. “After open discussions with the management, the DFB management decided to fulfill the 47-year-old Frankfurt native’s wish to pursue new professional paths,” said the umbrella organization.
Neuendorf: “Central player”
DFB President Bernd Neuendorf described Chatzialexiou as a “central player who has played a key role in shaping the DFB over the last two decades”. Recently there had been disagreements between the DFB and him. “He leaves us a well-established field on which future successes can be developed. The DFB will miss him both professionally and personally,” said Andreas Rettig, who was appointed DFB managing director in September. Regardless of these farewell words, the chemistry between the two is said not to have been right.
Chatzialexiou has been with the DFB since December 2003 and was responsible for the U national teams in various functions; he won the European Championship title with the U17, U19 and U21 teams. Since 2018 he has been working as the sporting director of the national teams. Most recently, the men’s national team was eliminated in the preliminary round of the World Cup in 2022 and this year the women’s team. Rudi Völler still found words of praise: “I worked with Joti in a very trusting way last year,” said the sports director of the senior national team.
The decision has been in the making for a long time
“It was always a great honor for me to work for the DFB. I’m leaving with both a crying and a laughing eye,” said Chatzialexiou, who was discussed as a sports director at Bundesliga club VfB Stuttgart some time ago. The decision to leave after exactly 20 years was something he had been making for a long time. He wants to fulfill his wish to contribute his knowledge and passion for innovative youth and elite development “in another place in the dynamically developing international football”.
