Andreas Rettig, the managing director of the German Football Association (DFB), has acknowledged that the violence in Guadalajara has left “little room for World Cup anticipation.”
Unrest began in the Mexican city — which is due to host four group stage games at the Estadio Akron at this summer’s World Cup — on Sunday after an operation meant to capture drug lord Nemesio Ruben Oseguera Cervantes, ‘El Mencho’, resulted in his death. Oseguera Cervantes was the leader of the Jalisco New Generation cartel and was killed by the Mexican army, leading to violent scenes across the country.
Mexico vs. South Korea and Uruguay vs. Spain are among the fixtures that Guadalajara is slated to host. The Estadio Akron is also set to stage a World Cup play-off tournament between New Caledonia, Jamaica, between March 26-28.
Asked by German newspaper the Augsburger Allgemeine whether he was looking forward to this summer’s tournament, which Mexico will joint-host alongside the United States and Canada, Rettig said “to be honest, not right now.”
“With the images we’re seeing from Mexico, my thoughts are really with all the Mexicans suffering from the unrest,” he continued. “We can only hope that this war-like situation calms down quickly.
“The images reaching us from around the host cities on the U.S. East Coast, with their devastating snowstorms, are also distressing. Given this, there’s little room for World Cup anticipation right now – more the hope that things will return to normal for everyone there as soon as possible.”
Rettig has been in his current position since 2023. Prior to that, he had been the managing director of the Deutsche Fussball-Liga (DFL) between 2013 and 2015, also holding a variety of management positions at various Bundesliga clubs, including Augsburg, Koln, St Pauli and Freiburg.
In 2022, Rettig was extremely critical of the World Cup in Qatar, encouraging bold protests and critical reporting. “This World Cup has to be a PR disaster,” he told German media before the tournament, suggesting also that the DFB should send an openly gay official to the tournament as a means of protest.
In the event, Qatar 2022 was a PR disaster for the German national team, whose participation alienated some fans back home — the domestic television audience in Germany roughly halved from 2018 — and featured mixed political messaging and poor performances on the pitch. Germany, as they had been four years previously, were eliminated in the group stage.
Asked about his criticism as part of this recent interview, Rettig has clarified that the position he took concerned the awarding of the tournament and the decision to stage it in the winter, rather than the summer.
“If we only want to hold tournaments in countries where our democratic principles are respected, things will quickly become isolated,” he added.
Regarding Germany’s participation at 2026, Rettig has rejected calls for a boycott, saying that such actions “currently makes no sense” and that “the political situation can change quickly.” He also said that Germany’s players should be careful of allowing negative discussions into the dressing room.
Germany are due to face Curacao at NRG Stadium in Houston on June 14th, in a group that also contains Ivory Coast and Ecuador. They will also play the U.S. in preparatory friendly at Soldier Field, Chicago, on June 6th.