Dusseldorf (dpa) – The centre-right politician Stephan Mayer has surprisingly withdrawn his candidacy for president of the German Olympic Sports Confederation (DOSB).
He leaves two contenders remaining to replace the departing Alfons Hoermann.
Mayer, 47, of the CSU party withdrew from the race on Sunday at a conference of the member federations held in Dusseldorf despite being one of three candidates recommended by an exploratory commission.
Claudia Bokel, president of the German fencing federation, and Thomas Weikert, the departing chief of world table tennis, remain in contention for the top job in the country’s Olympic body.
“It surprised me, he was a competent candidate,” triathlon chief Martin Engelhardt said of Mayer.
The new president who will succeed Hoermann is to be elected December 4 in Weimar.
Hoermann and DOSB chief executive officer Veronika Ruecker are departing amid fall out from an anonymous letter which was made public in May, criticising Hoermann’s leadership and speaking of a “climate of fear” within staff at the DOSB headquarters.
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