By Nils Bastek and Jan Mies
, dpa I Sunday, August 25, 2024
BERLIN – Christoph Daum, a prominent German football figure known for his coaching career, has died at 70 after a long battle with cancer, his family has announced.
Daum’s family said he had died on Saturday “peacefully surrounded by his family.”
After being diagnosed with cancer in 2022, Daum initially withdrew from public life but later returned to the spotlight.
“Cancer chose the wrong body,” Daum had said in interviews and talk shows, using his fighting spirit to inspire others.
Daum was a Bundesliga title winner with VfB Stuttgart and coached nine different clubs over 30 years, winning 10 titles.
He was lined up to take over the Germany national team until his career was rocked in 2000 by the eventual admission that he had taken cocaine, leading to his dismissal by Bayer Leverkusen.
He had a successful run with Leverkusen before being removed from his post, winning three second places in the Bundesliga in four years of coaching between 1996 and 2000.
“The loss of my friend Christoph Daum leaves me deeply saddened,” long-time Bundesliga managing director Reiner Calmund, who worked closely with Daum at Leverkusen, told dpa.
Throughout his eventful life, Daum often emphasized the message: “You can fall. It’s not important how often you fall. You just have to keep getting up.”
Bayern Munich honorary president Uli Hoeness said: “Christoph Daum never avoided a dispute throughout his life, but we both made our peace a long time ago, and the news of his death also saddens me greatly.”
Germany national team director Rudi Völler, who was given the coaching job at the national team after Daum admitted he had taken cocaine, also paid tribute.
“German football is mourning the loss of a special coach who didn’t live without controversy, but who was able to learn from his mistakes.”
