The nationalist party nominated former defender Thomas Berthold, a member of the national team that won the 1990 World Cup in Italy
However, his public career was not limited to sports. During the COVID-19 pandemic, he became a critic of the health restrictions imposed by the German Government, which he described as exaggerated. He also participated in activities of the Querdenken movement, linked to protests against health measures and which was monitored by internal security agencies due to the presence of extremist sectors
Alternative for Germany (AfD), the German right-wing nationalist party, announced this Saturday the candidacy of former soccer player Thomas Berthold for the country's next presidential elections. The former defender, who was part of the selected world champion in Italy 1990, was presented by the leadership of the formation as a patriotic figure capable of representing German citizens beyond party divisions
.The announcement was made by AfD co-chairs, Tino Chrupalla and Alice Weidel. Chrupalla highlighted Berthold's sporting career and recalled his participation in the team that won the World Cup in the year of German reunification. He also argued that Germany needs a suprapartisan federal president who will help build a
new sense of national unity.
Berthold, born in 1964, played 62 games for the German national team and started the 1990 World Cup. At club level, he spent much of his career at Eintracht Frankfurt, Bayern Munich and VfB Stuttgart. He also played in Italy, where he defended the Roma and Hellas Verona jerseys
The nomination also has a strategic dimension for AfD. The party seeks to increase its public presence and project its positions in areas that were traditionally less linked to party competition, such as sports and national institutions
.
The current president, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, will end his term in February 2027. To succeed him, the parties of the conservative coalition support Ilse Aigner, a politician of the Christian Social Union (CSU), who also has the support of the Social Democratic Party (SPD)
.The election is scheduled for January 30 and will be held by the Federal Assembly, composed of deputies from the Bundestag and representatives appointed by the 16 German states. For that reason, citizens do not vote directly for the president. With Aigner's parliamentary support, Berthold's candidacy appears primarily as an AfD political initiative to gain national
visibility.
