
At the traditional DFL New Year’s reception, Hans-Joachim Watzke presented the 1990 World Cup winner with the award in front of over 400 guests in Offenbach – the city where Rudi Völler took his first steps in professional football in the middle of the 1970s.




“Of course, I’m very happy about the award, I grew up ten minutes away from here,” said Völler at the DFL New Year’s reception in Offenbach, where the Bayer 04 directors Fernando Carro and Simon Rolfes were also in attendance.
The award for the 62-year-old Völler was announced at the DFL general meeting in August of last year. The former Leverkusen director was unable to take part in the event back then for personnel reasons and now he has received the honour in person.
Through their honorary award the DFL (German Football League) recognises the great achievements of personalities in German professional football based on the decisions of their management committee. A total of 15 people are DFL honorary award winners to date.
Photos: DFL/Witters

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