May 8 (GMM) A controversy has erupted in Germany following the inauguration of a state-sponsored sports Hall of Fame that fails to mention three of the country's most famous sporting names.

Michael Schumacher, the most successful driver in formula one history, and tennis' Boris Becker and Steffi Graf, are missing from the list of 40 mostly deceased German sporting heroes, as unveiled this week by Deutsche Sporthilfe, the German sports foundation.

German president Horst Kohler launched the Hall of Fame earlier this week in Berlin, with the aim of encouraging young people to take up sport.

German Sport Aid Foundation head Ann Kathrim Linsenhoff, however, revealed that up to three new names will be added to the roll call every year.

The initial list was selected by a jury of 25, weighing up sporting achievements, their legacy and impact, personal attributes and whether they were a good role model.

Five names on the list, however, have connections with Germany's Nazi past, moving some sections of the domestic media to denounce the list as a 'Hall of Shame'.