Rainer Koch (born 18 December 1958) is a German jurist and

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

official. From November 2015 to April 2016, he was the acting president of the

German Football Association The German Football Association ( ; DFB ) is the governing body of Association football, football, futsal, and beach soccer in Germany. A founding member of both FIFA and UEFA, the DFB has jurisdiction for the German football league system and ...

along with Reinhard Rauball. Koch is a member of

UEFA The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; ; ) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs football, futsal and beach soccer, beach football in Europe and the List of transcontinental countries#A ...

's Appeals Body.

Professional career

Koch completed his schooling at Wilhelmsgymnasium Munich and then did his military service. From 1979 to 1984 he studied law at the

Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich The Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (simply University of Munich, LMU or LMU Munich; ) is a public university, public research university in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. Originally established as the University of Ingolstadt in 1472 by Duke ...

. After receiving his

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''doctor'', meaning "teacher") or doctoral degree is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism '' licentia docendi'' ("licence to teach ...

, he worked in the Bavarian

judicature The judiciary (also known as the judicial system, judicature, judicial branch, judiciative branch, and court or judiciary system) is the system of courts that adjudicates legal disputes/disagreements and interprets, defends, and applies the law ...

. After working in various local courts, he worked for three years at the Saxonian University of Applied Sciences of Administration in

Meissen Meissen ( ), is a town of approximately 30,000 about northwest of Dresden and 75 km (46 mi) west of Bautzen on both banks of the Elbe river in the Free State of Saxony, in eastern Germany. Meissen is the home of Meissen porcelain, th ...

. Koch was the deputy head of the IT authority of the Bavarian justice for several years. Since 2008, Koch has been a judge at the

Oberlandesgericht An (; plural – ; OLG, , or in Berlin '' Kammergericht'': KG) is a higher court in Germany. There are 24 in Germany and they deal with civil and criminal matters. They are positioned above regional courts () and below the Federal Cour ...

Munich. Because of his diverse obligations as a sports official, he converted to a

part-time job A part-time job is a form of employment that carries fewer hours per week than a full-time job. Workers are commonly considered to be part-time if they work fewer than 30 hours per week. Their hours of work may be organised in shifts. The shifts a ...

Sporting career

Bavarian Football Association

In his youth, Koch played football for the '' Kirchheimer SC'' and for the ''TSV Poing''. From 1977 to 1980, Koch was coach of the D and C junior teams from Kirchheimer SC. Also in Kirchheim, Koch took over head of the youth department from 1989-1990. Starting in 1975, he was a

referee A referee is an official, in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection. The official tasked with this job may be known by a variety of other title ...

at the

Bavarian Football Association The Bavarian Football Association (), the ''BFV'', is one of 21 regional organisations of the German Football Association, the ''DFB'', and covers the state of Bavaria.Bayernliga The Bayernliga (English: Bavarian league) is the highest amateur football league and the second highest football league (under the Regionalliga Bayern) in the state of Bavaria () and the Bavarian football league system. It is one of fourteen Ob ...

, which was then the third highest league in Germany. From 1987 to 1989 he was an official referee observer. He also coached the A youth team of Falke Markt Schwaben. Koch acquired the coaching license B in 1982. At the age of 24, in 1982, he was an observer in the referee committee of the football district of Munich, which he held until 1986. After a work-related break, Koch returned again in 1990 to the BFV and became chairman of the Jugend-Sportgericht (Youth Sport Court) in the district of

Upper Bavaria Upper Bavaria (, ; ) is one of the seven administrative regions of Bavaria, Germany. Geography Upper Bavaria is located in the southern portion of Bavaria, and is centered on the city of Munich, both state capital and seat of the district gove ...

. After six years he was assessor in the association sports court, the leading sports court in the BFV, which he chaired from 1998 until 2004. In November 2004, Koch was unanimously elected President of the Bavarian Football Association. As president, he visited the district and regional days in BFV, promoted the efforts against

match fixing In organized sports, match fixing (also known as game fixing, race fixing, throwing, rigging, hippodroming, or more generally sports fixing) is the act of playing or officiating a contest with the intention of achieving a predetermined result, v ...

, and strengthened the lower divisions in the association. In the following BFV general meetings in 2006, 2010 and 2014 Koch was unanimously re-elected.

Southern German Football Association

Koch was elected in 2005 as vice president of the board of the

Southern German Football Association The Southern German Football Association (), the ''SFV'', is one of five regional organisations of the German Football Association, the ''DFB'', and covers the states of Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria and Hesse.Hesse Hesse or Hessen ( ), officially the State of Hesse (), is a States of Germany, state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt, which is also the country's principal financial centre. Two other major hist ...

Baden Baden (; ) is a historical territory in southern Germany. In earlier times it was considered to be on both sides of the Upper Rhine, but since the Napoleonic Wars, it has been considered only East of the Rhine. History The margraves of Ba ...

and

Württemberg Württemberg ( ; ) is a historical German territory roughly corresponding to the cultural and linguistic region of Swabia. The main town of the region is Stuttgart. Together with Baden and Province of Hohenzollern, Hohenzollern, two other histo ...

. Koch is President of the SFV since 22 October 2011.

German Football Association

upKoch in 2011 In 1996, Koch was made assessor of sports court of the

(Deutscher Fußball-Bund, DFB), to which he was elected chairman in 1998. In this position, Koch was much more involved in the investigation of the Bundesliga scandal 2005. Under his chairmanship, the court imposed the highest fines in the DFB-history for racism from football fans. In October 2007, Koch was elected DFB vice-president and then gave up the chair of the sports court. As DFB vice-president he was involved in fighting against racism and violence in football stadiums. On 25 October 2013, Koch took over the responsibility for amateur football as 1st Vice President of the DFB board. In this capacity, he is chairman of the conference of 21 state and five regional association presidents. This conference advises the DFB Presidium, the DFB Board and the DFB central administration in all issues that affect amateur football. Following the resignation of Wolfgang Niersbach in November 2015, Koch was, along with first Vice President Reinhard Rauball, statutory acting DFB president. In connection with possible bribes before the

2006 FIFA World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international Association football, football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to FIFA World Cup hosts ...

, on 9 November 2015, Koch demanded a public announcement about the operations from

Franz Beckenbauer Franz Anton Beckenbauer (; 11 September 1945 – 7 January 2024) was a German professional football player, manager, and official. Nicknamed ("the Emperor"), he is widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time, and is one of nine p ...

and explained that it was absolutely necessary "that he is intensively introduced in the elucidation of the processes." Koch remained president along with Rauball until 15 April 2016.

International Football

From 2002 to 2011, Koch was a member of the Control and Disciplinary Body of UEFA.

Politics

Koch runs since 1990 for the

Social Democratic Party of Germany The Social Democratic Party of Germany ( , SPD ) is a social democratic political party in Germany. It is one of the major parties of contemporary Germany. Saskia Esken has been the party's leader since the 2019 leadership election together w ...

in the city council of Poing and in 2009 was a member of the

Federal Convention The Constitutional Convention took place in Philadelphia from May 25 to September 17, 1787. While the convention was initially intended to revise the league of states and devise the first system of federal government under the Articles of Conf ...

for his party.

Family

Koch is married and has a daughter.

References

{{Authority control Living people 1958 births German football chairmen and investors Recipients of the Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany 21st-century German judges Social Democratic Party of Germany politicians Kirchheimer SC players