August 27 – Four former top football officials face trial in Germany after a Frankfurt court ruled they must answer tax evasion charges linked to the 2006 World Cup vote-buying scandal.
Earlier this month Swiss prosecutors indicted former DFB presidents Theo Zwanziger and Wolfgang Niersbach as well as ex-DFB general secretary Horst R Schmidt – along with Swiss former FIFA general secretary Urs Linsi – all of whom are alleged to have fraudulently misled members of a supervisory body of a DFB committee about the true nature of a payment of €6.7 million.
Now Niersbach, Zwanziger and Schmidt will stand trial in their own country accused of tax evasion, or aiding and abetting it, relating to the same amount of money alleged to have been a slush fund. Linsi will be alongside them, with all four under “sufficient suspicion” of tax fraud, according to a court statement.
Germany’s successful hosting of the 2006 World Cup has been embroiled in scandal since 2015 following sensational accusations of vote-buying first reported by Der Spiegel. Monday’s court ruling is the latest twist and overturns a regional court’s decision last October to reject a tax evasion case due to lack of evidence.
German football legend Franz Beckenbauer, 73, who chaired the 2006 World Cup organising committee, could also face charges in Switzerland, but his case has been separated because of his poor health.
The money at the centre of the case was allegedly provided by the late Robert Louis-Dreyfus, head of German sportswear giant Adidas, at the request of Beckenbauer. The funds were originally reported to have been transferred for a World Cup opening gala, an event which never took place.
“There is sufficient suspicion for the actions they are charged,” the Court said in a statement. “After analysis of the file there is enough suspicion that… the payment of €6.7 million in April 2005 from the organising committee World Cup 2006 to FIFA was wrong.”
An internal inquiry commissioned by the German FA and carried out by law firm Freshfields into the bid came up with no evidence of vote-buying but neither was it ruled out. The alleged slush fund has never been proven but World Cup organisers have been under scrutiny ever since Freshfields’ 360-page report attempted to explain a trail of suspect payments. The case triggered a spate of investigations and led to Niersbach’s resignation in 2015 over the slush fund allegations.
The court said tax evasion carried prison sentences of up to five years or a fine. All four figures have denied any wrongdoing and in a statement Zwanziger’s legal team said: “Neither the fact nor the content of the ruling change anything from the legal concept that allegations against our client are unfounded.”
Contact the writer of this story at moc.l1713609724labto1713609724ofdlr1713609724owedi1713609724sni@w1713609724ahsra1713609724w.wer1713609724dna1713609724